


Journey Ends

by Xmenfan33



Series: Fullmetal Dadchemist [3]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Adoptive family, Adventure, Assumed Identities, Camping, Canon-Typical Violence, Drama, During Canon, Edward Elric Swears, Edward is Harry's dad, F/M, Family, Fort Briggs, Nightmares, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Parental Roy Mustang, Promised Day, Roy is Ed and Al's Dad, Some Humor, Yuery Elric is Harry Potter, separate paths, traumatic events
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:15:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 69,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26682781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xmenfan33/pseuds/Xmenfan33
Summary: They only have a few months left before Promised Day, and Edward, Alphonse, and Roy all find themselves alone without the team or each other.Cross Posted on FF.net
Relationships: Alphonse Elric & Edward Elric, Alphonse Elric & Edward Elric & Roy Mustang, Edward Elric & Harry Potter, Edward Elric & Roy Mustang, Edward Elric & Team Mustang, Edward Elric/Winry Rockbell
Series: Fullmetal Dadchemist [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1862371
Comments: 167
Kudos: 134





	1. Anniversary

Anniversary

November 1st

Mustang-Elric Residence

1:00am

Edward woke with a gasp, a scream caught in his throat and his heart racing. The nightmare had been the worst he'd had in months, since the night he'd found out that Hughes had died. At first he was confused, though things were bad nothing new had happened in the last few weeks. Then he realized what the date was. A year ago, as of a couple hours ago, he had become a father.

For most people this was a joyous occasion, and indeed Ed rejoiced frequently that he had such a wonderful son. The fact remained that this was not a happy anniversary. One year ago tonight he had failed to save two people he had set out to save. He had never had the chance to meet the couple in life, but he couldn't help but feel connected to them as the birth parents of his son.

They were hardly the first people he had failed, that would be his brother, but there were very few that he had failed so completely. Again, his brother came to mind. This last year had been so full of new traumas layered on top of old that he had never had a chance to properly evaluate how he felt about them, not that it mattered to the dead.

He felt his chest tightening and his eyes burning. He was on the verge of crying like a child over the loss of two people whom he had never so much as shared a waive. He felt raw. He felt lonely, and scared and small. He felt like a failure. Beside him Yuery stirred as if troubled by his father's distress. He scooped the boy up and breathed deeply the scent of his hair.

His breath hitched because it wasn't just the couple. It was them. It was Hughes. It was Nina. It was Auntie and Uncle Rockbelle. It was his mom. It was AL. It was everyone he's tried to help and failed. It was Strangers breaking into the house when he was six because they thought it was empty and keeping his brother hidden while they scrounged around hiding from soldiers. It war that ravaged his hometown it was bombings. It was watching the country tear apart. It was the price of the Stone. It was Father, and the homunculus, and Winry's helplessly holding a gun. It was trying to help and save everyone. It was being the strong one. Being unshakable. Being Dad when he didn't know HOW. It was everything.

Ed couldn't be brave and strong and whole. He couldn't do it right now. He needed someone to tell him it was going to be okay even if it wasn't. He needed someone to hold him and love him and make it alright. He needed- He needed his Dad.

To hell with their protocols and plans. He couldn't wait until morning, because if he tried to wait until morning he was going to shake himself apart. He needed his Dad now. Shakily he climbed out of bed, and hugged his son close to his chest. He felt foolish, but he couldn't stop the sniffles this time. Nearly blinded by unshed tears Ed stumbled across the room and through the door.

Roy woke with a start, but was unsure of what had pulled him from sleep as he cautiously sat up, slipping a glove onto his right hand. A moment later it became clear what had woke him. Someone was at his door. A heavy but quiet knock occurred. One knock, two, one. It was the code he and the boys had agreed upon should something come up in the night.

Roy climbed out of bed before calling softly through the door. "Al?"

"No. It's me. Can I come in?" Ed said softly.

Roy reached for the lock, knowing instantly something must be wrong. The he paused when his brain caught up with his arm. He asked in a whispered voice. "What does it mean?"

"…Never look back." Ed said, his voice heavy as if he was crying, or trying not to. "and never turn away from the guilt."

Roy nodded and started to open the door to find Edward clutching Yuery to his chest, his eyes red rimmed and his breath hitching in his chest. Without a thought Roy reached out and pulled the boys into his room before shutting the door and hugging them tight. "What is it sweetheart? What's happened?"

"N-nothing. Everything. I had… can I sleep in here tonight?" Ed said shakily, as he buried his nose in Roy's chest. He smelled familiar. Like sandalwood, and sulfur, and Dad. Ed didn't need to ask to know this was the real Roy Mustang, because that scent couldn't be faked.

Roy didn't hesitate as he lead them over to the bed and pulled Ed away from himself long enough for them both to lay down. He settled onto the bed, and Ed laid his head on Roy's chest over his heart. Yuery tucked against Ed's own chest and partly between them but not tightly. Roy ran a hand through Ed's hair as he listened to the boy's breathing settle and smooth back out. After a few minutes, he once again asked quietly. "What is it Son? What happened?"

"I became a Dad a year ago. I had a nightmare about it. I heard their screams and the lights." Ed said softly with a sniff. "Then it was Nina and then Hughes and Mom… and that time when I was little when the rebels broke into my old house and I had to hide Al in the back of the closet and he was so scared."

Roy hadn't heard about that one before, and vowed to ask about it later, because right now he needed to focus on assuring Ed they couldn't suffer anymore; that they wouldn't blame him if they were about to still think. It wasn't his fault. He was just a child.

Slowly Ed relaxed, and eventually he drifted back to sleep, still pressed against Roy's chest. Roy sighed deeply, and adjusted the boys slightly so that Yuery was no longer between them, but also laying on Roy. He started to drift back to sleep himself, oddly comforted by the weight of his boys in his arms.

6:00 am

The next time Roy woke it was to the high scared voice of his younger son. Al burst through the door, he had either forgotten to reset the ward or Al had seen it and deactivated. "Dad, Ed and Yu are gone!" AL exclaimed, before he froze when he spotted the other two still asleep and his dad shaking his head gently.

"We had a hard night." Roy whispered. Al nodded, and shut the door before resetting the ward and sitting against the wall. Roy wished he could invite his second son to join them, no doubt he needed a hug as much as his brother, unfortunately there wasn't room for his hulking form even if he hadn't been cold hard metal.

Truthfully, after a night spent next to Ed he admittedly thought of space more than comfort. Ed was half steel, and it did not make for the warmest of beds. Both boys needed reassurance and comforting more than Roy needed to be comfortable though. If snuggling up to unforgiving metal in mid fall is what it took to make his sons feel safe and secure he'd gladly do it every night.

A glance at the clock told him he was running late. He thought about it for a moment before he shrugged and pulled the baby tighter to his chest. He would be late, or better, not go in at all. He had sick leave, and he rarely used it. The day after tomorrow his sons would be heading north and who knew how long they would be gone? He was going to make the most of their time together.

He lived in permanent fear at this point. At anytime his children could be ripped from him like his team had been, and he would fight to the death to defend them, but that didn't change how dangerous things had become. So far this Father and his homunculi were leaving the Elrics with him unharried, though they all knew that could change on a whim.

Ed began to stir, this being close to the time he usually woke, and snuggled closer to Roy's side. A contented sigh escaped the boy, and Roy wondered, not for the first time, when was the last time this child had felt safe and secure. Surely it had been before joining the military. Perhaps before he lost his mother. Years and years this child had been left to figure out the world on his own.

Roy could condemn those who had failed the children, himself included, but that would do nothing to help them moving forward. Now he needed to be sure they knew they were always loved, and they could always run home to him.

Slowly, Ed's eyes blinked open. He frowned in confusion when he heard the slow steady thump of a heartbeat under his ear, before he remembered last night. He blushed slightly at the idea that he had crawled into his father's bed like a toddler hiding from a monster. He lifted his head slightly, and felt Dad tightened the grip around his shoulders. "Hey, G'mornin." Ed whispered.

"Good morning Ed. Did you sleep better the second try?" Roy asked, knowing the boy had never sounded distressed but that didn't mean he hadn't had a silent nightmare.

"Yeah. Thanks for letting us in. I slept a lot better." Ed said as he sat up and pushed his hair into a messy bun that would soon fall apart.

"It is not a problem Ed. If it was I would have refused to let you in here." Roy said in response. He shifted the baby in his arms and sat up, leaning against the headboard. "Should you feel its going to continue for you the next few nights, this close to the anniversary, perhaps we should just plan to have you boys stay in here… that may be better for security as well."

Ed thought about it as he leaned against the headboard himself and Al joined them at the foot of the bed. If it was just a matter of his pride, Ed would have insisted he was fine and returned to his own room without further comment. It was for Yuery's safety though. For Yuery's safety Ed would do anything even sacrifice his dignity. "…umm. Let's just assume we will sleep in here. It would make it easier to keep Yu safe. Especially if Al were to stay in here too. Al?"

Al nodded in agreement. He was aware that Dad just manipulated Brother into this. He was pretty sure Brother knew too. It didn't matter if Brother was able to sleep without as many nightmares and the baby was safe then what else mattered?

9:00 am

Roy called in to say he was sick. He even gave some very convincing coughs. He knew they didn't believe him, and he didn't care. He was staying with his boys until it was time for them to get on that stupid train.

After he hung up, he started breakfast as usual, with Yuery babbling in his highchair and Ed slipped away for his morning shower. Overall, it had been an alright morning considering their late night. Ed seemed much better in the light of day, though if that was because he had forgotten his nightmare or because he was being strong for Al was hard to say.

Ed arrived downstairs just as Roy slid the eggs and bacon onto the table. Al joined them as Ed pulled the orange juice and milk from the fridge. Roy added toast to the table, and Al started cutting up some eggs and bacon for his nephew. He handed the baby a slice of toast to hold before he slowly started feeding the boy.

Ed piled his own plate high with eggs, bacon, and toast. Roy with eggs and toast not bothering with bacon for himself. Ed interrupted Al, pointing a toast filled hand in their direction as he said. "Al. The book said to let him try to feed himself, and then feed him after he's done if he's still hungry."

"How do we know if he's getting enough then? And what about getting to work on time?" Al asked, reluctant to change the routine.

"He doesn't get to come with me anymore, so if he wants to take more time, let him. As far as if he's still hungry… just offer him some more food once he's finished with what's on his tray. You can still feed him, just let him try himself first." Ed said, before looking down at himself. He hadn't bothered to dress properly after his shower, instead wearing a sweatshirt and cargo pants. He needed to get dressed to go to work though.

"We aren't going in today. I'm very sick, and you are doing research." Roy said when he heard Ed sigh. There would be no point in him playing hooky only for the boys to leave.

"Okay. So what are we up to today if not working?" Ed asked.

"You boys can spar for awhile and then we just spend the day reading and trying to find holes in the plan." Roy said as he started to gather the dishes. Yuery was still smearing eggs all over his tray, but with Ed's nod now Al was also spooning bites into his mouth in between Yuery's own attempts.

As soon as they finished cleaning up, the boys went to the back to spar inside the safety of their yard and Roy took the baby to go play in the living room. When the boys joined them a little while later it was to the sight of Roy crawling around behind the giggling, squealing baby who was running in a big circle as he made very convincing 'monster' noises.

Yuery spotted his father before Roy did and changed directions to crawl to his father begging for help. Ed laughed heartily as he scooped the child up above Roy's head intentionally dangling his legs low enough that Roy could reach up and tickle the soles of his feet.

They continued to play this game for a few more minutes, Al even joining in toward the end holding Yuery above both of the other's reach. Roy eventually had to tap out of the game, the mostly healed wound on his side complaining about the activity. He made an excuse about making lunch but neither of his sons missed how he grabbed his side as he left the room.

The dog, who had been chasing after them for most of the game, happily bounded after Roy and yipped to be let out. Roy opened the backdoor, then sat heavily at the table. He started to get back up when Al walked into the kitchen but Al waived him back down. "You over did it, I'll make lunch. Honestly, you're as bad as Brother. He never wants to admit when he's hurting either."

"Why? What happened? How did he get injured this time." Roy asked sounding both tired and concerned.

"The weather's turning. It's going to rain later, it makes his ports hurt. He doesn't like to let anyone know though." Al said quietly.

"Oh." Roy said. He'd noticed the heaviness in the air of course, but hadn't thought about it in terms of Ed's condition. He rarely thought of Ed's condition as a limitation at all. Last year, when Yuery had been very tiny still, that rain storm that had locked up Ed's joints when they took Yuery to the hospital. Roy couldn't help but worry about Ed being in pain like that again. "What can we do to help?"

"Hot water bottles, warm blankets, pain killers if we can convince him to take them." Al said, humming thoughtfully. "Hot tea and if it gets really bad a hot bath."

"I haven't seen him suffering and he's been living with me all this time, how did I miss it?" Roy asked mostly to himself.

"Brother is pretty good at hiding the pain unless the weather's really bad. It's usually pretty mild here in Central, and it's even nicer out in East. The last time I remember it being really bad for him was the first time Scar chased us."

"Oh. I knew he was in pain but I thought it was because of his arm." Roy said thoughtfully. "I remember it was bad that day we took Yuery to the hospital too. The weather was terrible that day."

"It was mostly his arm. When the wires are exposed like that it exposes his nerves. It's why Winry's always on him about being more careful."

"Yes, I knew that part of it. I've lectured him about it myself." Roy said. "Where is Ed? By now I'd expect him to be protesting the subject matter."

Ed was standing in the doorway with a bemused expression on his face, finding their concern comforting in a way, though he wasn't about to admit it out loud. Instead he cleared his throat and set his son in the highchair. "I'm not hungry right now Al. If you wouldn't mind feeding him I think I'm going to lay down for a bit?"

Roy and Al agreed to watch the baby and Ed limped away as Roy frowned after him. He was concerned about their upcoming trip if the rain caused him this much pain what was the cold going to do to him? At least there shouldn't be any snow yet.

10:35 pm

Al sat at the foot of the bed on the right side, where Ed left enough space for him. If asked Ed would have insisted it was thanks to him curling his knees, not because he was small enough to leave the room. Roy had insisted that Ed take the right side so that he could lay comfortably on his left arm, since his ports were still sore. Yuery laid peacefully in between Roy and Ed , and the three of them were all reading quietly so as not to wake the baby.

They had agreed it was the safest course of action to lock and ward themselves in Roy's room for the night instead of counting on Al hearing something if Envy decided to attack in the night. It was an extreme measure to also seal the room by fusing the door. After they debated it, they had Ed seal it anyway.

The biggest problem with their sleeping arrangements were Roy's injured side was left exposed to small kicks from Yuery. Almost as if he had summoned trouble by thinking it Yuery stretched in his sleep and managed to dig his head right into Roy's stomach. Roy tried to suppress the hiss of pain, but both brothers noticed it. Ed immediately pulled the baby closer to himself with a wince and Roy curled around his injury.

"Are you sure you can handle him while we're out of town?" Ed asked quietly. "Technically you shouldn't even be out of bed yet."

"I'll be fine Ed. I just need to be more careful where I lay him." Roy said in response through gritted teeth, before forcing himself to straighten back out to prove his point. Ed stared at him thoughtfully, not buying his story, before nodding to himself and climbing out of bed.

Before Roy could ask anything Ed scooped the baby up and placed him in the crib beside the bed, then he walked around the end until he was towering over Roy. "Move over. I'm taking this side so we have no more accidents."

"Now you're in charge here?" Roy asked sarcastically even as he scooted to the other side of the bed.

"If you can't take care of yourself, I'll have to hire a sitter for you both Dad. Maybe I'll call Ms. Gracia." Ed said as he laid back down, back turned so that he was still avoiding pressure on his port.

"Brother. You both need to take better care of yourselves." Al said still not looking up from his book.

Soon enough the other two had drifted to sleep and Al continued to watch over them. He could see the lines of pain etched in the faces of both Ed and Roy. He worried about Ed for years now, but now he had to worry about Roy too. He'd been injured thanks to these monsters but he had checked out of the hospital early to help Ed.

Al just didn't want anyone else to hurt anymore. Especially not to get hurt trying to help him. He missed having a body, being able to east and sleep and feel. He didn't want his body back if it meant other people had to suffer.

10:00 am

Gracia and Elicia had agreed to come over to watch after Yuery so Roy could take Ed and Al to the train station. She had settled Elicia and Yuery to play in the living room and gone to wash the dished for Roy so he wouldn't have to worry about them when he got back.

Yuery was wandering around behind Elicia, toddling proudly as he yelled happily and chased her. They were making enough noise that Gracia knew exactly where they were even from the other room. The puppy and cat were in the living room as well but seemed to refuse to leave the boy.

Roy walked back into the house shortly after that, having knocked on the door, and answering a question about Hughes only he and Gracia would be able to answer. She reacted with a similar question, then they wandered into the living room to watch the children play.

"I am considering the idea of moving out of the city." Gracia said after a moment. "Somewhere safer to raise children than the capitol. Maybe closer to West City, out where Maes and I both grew up."

"I see. Well, if that is what is best for you and Elicia I understand and agree. I will miss you both, of course, and the boys will as well." Roy said.

"I have no intention of deciding until the boys get back though. I don't want to disappear on them without a word. I get the impression that already has happened to them far too often."

"Thank you for that. They have suffered a great deal of loss already."

"… It's going to be obvious soon. I haven't said anything." Gracia said, before gesturing for him to follow her back to the kitchen. With a glance at the children he followed her, concerned. Once they were away from the children and were unlikely to be overheard, she gave him a watery smile. "I found out a while ago. I'm pregnant."

"I- What? Really?" Roy said. He had known, because Maes had bragged about it a lot, that they had decided they wanted a second child. He thought the plan had died with Maes, she had to be no less than… he started calculating Maes had died at the beginning of July, because the boys had been down south and he was still out East for another two weeks after that. So even if she hadn't been pregnant until July she had to be about four months. How could she have not said anything? Shouldn't he be able to tell? He tried to remember when her belly started sticking out with Elicia but he couldn't remember it was too long ago now.

"I've been wearing loose blouses. I'm barely showing, I didn't with Elicia either until six months. I found out last month. I really should have known before then, but thought it was depression." Gracia explained. "We are moving closer to my parents… but I was hoping. I know Maes would have wanted it too… Would you agree to be this one's godfather too?"

"Of course. I would be honored." Roy said with a smile. He was already trying to think of the best way to suggest she visit abroad for the spring before this, now he was concerned though if she would be up to traveling then. At least she would be away from the city.

He wanted to call Riza and give her the news. It was good news, though bittersweet with everything else that had happened. He would be sure to tell the boys the next time he saw them too. They would be excited, but if he knew Ed at all, and he did, he would start down a self-blame spiral on Maes death again over it though. Roy couldn't have that though. It wasn't Ed's fault this new child would never meet their dad. It was his, he was the one who asked Maes to get involved. He should have just taken care of it himself.

Gracia must have seen something in his expression because she grabbed him into a hug and demanded that he stop blaming himself. She reminded him that even if he hadn't asked. Even if Ed had refused to tell him anything. Maes would have gotten involved because it was who he was. He never let anything go. She didn't want Roy or the Elrics to continue to blame themselves for this.

Shortly after lecturing him, she took Elicia home so that he could put Yuery down for a nap and get some rest himself. She also insisted that he was going to need help with the baby while the boys were gone, she saw him favoring his side. Roy refused her offer. He had Vanessa and Olivia on call to help him, and he flat refused to put Gracia and her children at risk. He had already brought them enough suffering.


	2. The Northern Wall of Briggs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Rarely is the Truth simple and never is it kind, but in the wrong hands it can be very dangerous

Chapter Two

The Northern Wall of Briggs

North City

10:00am

Edward stared in open mouthed amazement at the amount of snow on the ground, before shouting in excitement and rushing down the stairs…only to slip on a patch of ice part of the way down and fall the rest of the way. His pride (and tailbone) were bruised, but nothing broken. It did little to temper his enthusiasm at the snow.

He rarely saw snow, even as a child growing up in the East it was rare to get more than a few inches, and since joining the military he had spent his time in warmer climates and hadn't seen snow at all. It had been years, long enough that he only had fond memories and no real concept of how cold it would be getting.

Alphonse was as excited as his brother, and he was not above teasing Edward over falling. Al may look huge, but inside that seven-foot hulking frame laid the soul of a fourteen-year-old boy. One who still occasionally enjoyed childish things. His brother, only a year older, was as easily amused, though he did a better job of covering it up behind a mask of adolescent anger and premature-adult responsibility. It was just the two of them right now though, and he had no one to impress, so he felt no guilt when he threw an ice filled snowball at his younger brother.

Al screeched as the snow splat against his chest plate, before warning his brother he should run. They spent the next twenty minutes chasing each other through the snow, before Edward finally collapsed on a bench. They sat there for a few minutes as Ed caught his breath before he announced they had another hour before their train was to leave. Al suggested they go find food, worried now that his brother was getting cold.

Once they arrived in a small café Ed used his powers to dry out his clothes and warm his automail slightly. He then ate a large brunch before rushing back to the station. All in all, it had probably been the easiest morning he'd had in years. The only thing, in his opinion, that could have made it better was if his son had been here.

Yuery, his fifteen month old son, had been left in the care of his commanding officer, Colonel Roy Mustang, for this trip after they had decided it was far too dangerous to bring a baby this close to the northern border. Roy was Yuery's primary babysitter whenever Edward had to go somewhere without the child. Edward, Alphonse, and Yuery had been living with Mustang for the last few months, and Ed considered Roy his father. He even called him Dad at home.

Above North Command

They rode up the mountain on the back of a cart on the way to Briggs. Now that he wasn't moving, Ed started to notice how cold it was growing. He wondered how much longer they would be outside before they arrived. Just as he was about to ask if they would arrive soon, the driver came to a stop and let them out.

He explained they needed to follow the road up the mountain to get to the wall, and to stick to the road. As the boys waived their thanks, he stopped them, to ask if Al's armor was automail. Al shook his head as the man drove away with a "Well that's a relief."

"I wonder what that was about?" Ed asked, before shrugging and walking up the path. It was too late to worry about it now after all.

Central City

Mustang-Elric residence

1:00pm

Roy had spent the morning playing with his grandson before feeding him lunch and putting him down for a nap. Now that the boy had mastered walking, he was a handful. Not that Roy minded. He found the child to be a delight. He was almost embarrassed to admit that he had taken nearly as many photos of the boys as Hughes had of Elicia. Unlike Hughes, Roy didn't share these photos with everyone he met. In fact, since Hughes had passed away, Roy shared them only with Hawkeye and his mother.

It didn't change that fact that he took them. The boys would want to see them when they were older. Probably. For now, he was just enjoying a moment of peace. Since he and Edward had learned the terrible truth of their country there hadn't been time for peace. Even now it was fleeting. An illusion. Roy was worried about his team, which had been scattered, and he was worried about his sons, who had headed North looking for answers. He would have to work tomorrow, and the idea of leaving his grandson also worried him, even if it was with his foster sister.

He had good reason to worry. Their country was being run by immortal beings that had taken interest in his family when they had stumbled upon the plot. His best friend had been killed. His team taken from him. His other best friend held hostage. Edward's friend was a hostage as well. There had even been a warning that they may try to remove Yuery and use him as a physical hostage instead of a threat.

Roy and Ed had come up with a counter measure. Neither were happy about it. Should it look as though they intended to move against Mustang and remove the child, he would hand the baby over to Vanessa. Vanessa would then go underground with the child with Madame her sole contact. Meanwhile, should either man or boy need to get a hold of her to check up on the kid or for her to check up on them, they had developed a rather complex coding system.

It was unneeded yet though, so Roy would pretend for the child's sake, and for his still healing side. He and Ed had also discussed if one or the other should have to go into hiding while the boys were out of town, and agreed on a plan for that as well, which both hoped was completely unnecessary.

While the boy napped Roy sat at the desk in the corner of his room to fill out paperwork, he had brought home with him. This was not a new habit, as he began hording paperwork until the last minute shortly after receiving his own staff after the war. He had built a persona of uncaring, lazy, procrastinating playboy. It had been hard work to keep up the appearance of doing nothing. It went against his nature, but it was necessary to keep the upper hand against his political enemies.

Roy was first and foremost an alchemist. He was intelligent and curious. His notes were near unbreakable and involved concepts above the heads of nearly all of his colleagues had they managed to crack them. He highly suspected Edward had, and that he understood what they held, but they had never discussed it. Ignorance was always the better defense. That was unimportant at the moment however, Roy reminded himself as he flipped idly through his alchemy notes, disguised as an address book.

He belatedly remembered he had a 'date' tonight. With a sigh he tried to decide the best way to handle this situation. He couldn't cancel, this was too important. He couldn't take Yuery with him, even if it wasn't a real date it had to look like one, and he was still trying to keep Yuery under wraps for the most part. He could call Gracia, but he was trying to keep her involvement to the minimum so that he could keep her safe. None of his men were still available. Aside from Hawkeye none were left in the city.

He decided the only option was to call Madame and beg for a sitter. It would be the best solution. A quick phone call changed the plan from meeting Vanessa to meeting Elisabeth which in all honestly was a better plan considering Vanessa would be the sitter while he worked. He then returned his attention to his notes. There was much to do, and not a lot of time left to do it.

Fort Briggs

4:00 pm

Edward had never been this cold in his life. The automail connections felt like they were burning nearly as bad as when he's been out in the dessert, but this was a different burning. He didn't say it out loud, but he was scared he might die out here if they didn't find shelter soon. It was almost a relief when he found himself surrounded by armed men.

Above him laid the largest wall he had ever seen and standing on a balcony part of the way up was a blonde woman, whose manner reminded him of Teacher, but without the underlying affection. He almost turned around and headed back down the mountain. If not for the armed guards and his concern that he would not survive the return trip.

Somehow, he found himself in the infirmary being lectured in automail safety. He was informed that if he intended to live, he needed to contact his mechanic. Almost before he could absorb this information, they had him shuffled back out being led by Major Miles out to work removing ice from the fort.

Ed couldn't reach the ice, because the ceilings were unreasonably high of course, and was struggling with the attempt when Falman approached them. Ed was surprised to see the other man, as the last he had heard Falman was stationed down at the base of the mountain. Falman led them further into the fort, explaining the innerworkings of both the building and the unit housed within, when a rumbling shook the floor.

With in moments the alarms sounded as a giant homunculus made its way to the surface. Edward confronted the creature that proved to be both dimwitted and uninformed. Afterward they helped the soldiers of Briggs to freeze the creature solid hopefully until spring. Falman attempted to vouch for Ed and Al when Armstrong had them arrested, but he hadn't been there long enough to hold any weight with his defense.

Armstrong informed Edward that he would remain in custody until he was willing to tell her the truth. He frowned in response, stating only. "Rarely is the Truth simple and never is it kind, but in the wrong hands it can be very dangerous."

"Indeed." Armstrong said in response. "It is your choice Fullmetal. The price of your freedom remains the same, the truth."

"There are eyes and ears everywhere Sir. Some things can not be said in such open surroundings." Alphonse replied politely.

Armstrong left, returning shortly to inform Edward that he would be joining her to ensure their safety because they were the spies. However, as soon as no one could overhear them deep in the tunnel Armstrong again demanded an explanation. So, Edward explained everything he knew about what had been happening under their noses.

Central

10:00pm

After Roy had dropped off Elisabeth and bought a large quantity of flowers in exchange for information from the Armstrongs, he decided to call Riza. It was a risky move since he knew they were all being watched, but he also knew how to use just the right combination of wording and tone to pass on information while sounding like nothing more than a sad lonely drunk he had convinced most of the world was true.

His concern only grew after the conversation, but he had no choice but to let it go since he needed to get home to his grandson and babysitter. On the drive home he weighed the odds and decided to ask Vanessa if she would be open to staying in the guest room while Edward was away to make childcare easier. She agreed much to his relief. She promised to be back in the morning, as he locked up behind her.

Sighing tiredly, Roy loosened his tie and opened the backdoor to let the pets out for a few minutes. A ten-foot stone wall was apparently not a deterrent to ninjas, but it worked well enough for normal people as well as a terrier and a cat. Cobalt always seemed to go out whenever Fredrick the Great went out. He checked on Yuery, who was sleeping in the playpen in the living room, before calling the pets back in and locking the back door.

He gently lifted the baby and carried him upstairs the dog and cat trailing behind him and went to his room. As he laid the baby down, and changed for bed, his thoughts turned to the boys and his hopes that they stayed safe and came home quickly. He turned to the bed to find the dog and cat curled around the baby once again leaving him just enough room to squeeze onto the edge of the bed.

After settling into bed Roy finally touched the array carved into his nightstand. Once activated it would prevent anyone from entering the room through the door or windows. Yuery rolled over snuggling into his side as he drifted to sleep.

Tunnel under Ft. Briggs

9:00 am

Armstrong, Edward, Falman, and Miles had settled far enough into the tunnel that no one could overhear them, and checked the area thoroughly, before Edward began his story. Armstrong's scowl deepened as the boy talked until finally, he had run out of things to say.

"So. Homunculus. A Nationwide array. Hostages. A plot that goes all the way to the top. Is there anything else?" She asked after a moment of silence.

"No. That just about covers it." Ed said quietly. "I need to find this girl; she may be key to solving this whole thing."

"Why though. What does the array do?" Falman said.

"More importantly, how close are they?" Miles asked.

Ed hummed thoughtfully before requesting a map. He then started marking off areas as the others listed any battle or uprising that involved a great deal of bloodshed. He was momentarily distracted when Falman listed Liore. He had unseated the priest. They had been well on the way to recovery when he left. How had it gone wrong?

Once he was finished it was apparent, they were only one point away from the array being completed, here at Briggs was the final point. Armstrong and Ed cursed. Before they could continue however, word came via a running private that General Raven from Central had just arrived at the Fort. "He's the one that turned on Mustang." Ed whispered to Armstrong. Roy had told him about it when he was warning Ed about not trusting anyone.

Armstrong nodded in understanding, before they came up with a plan to get the information they were still missing, namely what the homunculus were planning to do with the array. Armstrong went to meet Raven while Ed was returned to custody (handcuffed and apparently headed toward the cells). As soon as Armstrong made a show of announcing that Ed had refused to tell her anything about the creature that had attacked the fort, Ed, Miles, and Falman went to listen into the conversation between her and Raven.

As they had hoped, Raven took the bait. He explained to Armstrong that they had been promised immortality in exchange for their loyalty, as well as an unbeatable army of automan that never tired or required resources. Ed made a few key notes to be sure to pass on to Mustang when he got the chance, before they rushed him back to his cell before he could be missed.

Once he had been returned to his brother, he just shook his head to keep Al from asking any questions, just as another man approached the cell. Dressed completely in white, the man (who Ed had seen with Raven earlier) introduced himself as Solf Kimblee Crimson Alchemist. He assured them that they had nothing to worry about but refused to help them out of their cell, which Ed had expected but was still annoyed.

Central

Mustang-Elric Residence

9:00 am

Roy and Yuery had just finished breakfast when Vanessa returned with a full suitcase and answered Roy's "security" question easily as he waited on the other side of the security door. He had asked her simply. "How did we meet?"

"Our mothers." She said with a smile before he unlocked the door and let her in. He locked it and the front door behind her before leading her upstairs as Yuery babbled along on his hip.

"It's never the same question twice. No one comes into this house without answering the question, even me. A new question will be written down before work every day." Roy began as he led her to the guest room. "No one comes into my room at night. I need you to watch him while I work but when I'm sleeping, he stays with me. I think that's it. Oh! And make sure to let the cat and dog out a couple of times a day. There's no need to go with them, the wall is high enough they can't escape. Thank you again for doing this Vanessa."

"It's no trouble at all, he is a sweet little boy." She said in return.

Yuery smiled at her around his finger in return before saying in a serious tone with a frown. "Yeye abbda Dadda bye?"

"Of course." Roy said in return before noticing Vanessa's expression. "I understood three of those words, so I assume he was asking if Ed would be back soon. He said no more than a week, but you can never tell if something comes up, he may be gone longer. He will be back as fast as he can be though, because he hates being away from this boy."

"You answered him though, but I have no idea what he said."

"I'm Yeye. Ed's Dadda. Bye is self-explanatory. I assume based on that, that what he was asking was if his father is alright and when should we expect them.

"I see. I'll do my best." Vanessa said as she reached for the baby, who leaned further into Roy in response.

"Come now Yu. This is Vanessa. You liked her yesterday." Roy said calmly. She had answered the question correctly, the dog seemed fine with her, and Yu hadn't protested her. He just didn't want to be handed off, which made sense in that he was not used to this particular caregiver. Roy had to get him used to her though before he had to return to work on Monday. He handed the disgruntled baby off to his foster sister before walking back to his study to give them a bit of time to get acquainted.

Yuery watched him go with a frown before turning back to the strange woman. She smiled down at him and headed toward the kitchen. She intended to find him a cookie or candy to bribe him into a good mood. She offered him the cookie as the dog appeared at her feet and the cat followed her. She supposed she would have to get used to watching not to step on the animals since they seemed to follow the boy everywhere.

Roy listened carefully from the other room in case she needed to be rescued from an angry baby, but so far, the boy seemed happy enough. He sat at his desk to go ahead and sign some of the paperwork he had in his briefcase. He hadn't gotten far before the phone rang. With a sigh he answered politely.

Winry was on the other side, apparently, she had been contacted to travel north to install winter automail on Edward. Roy stared off into space for a moment, before responding honestly. "I knew they went to Briggs, yes. I didn't know it was that cold up there yet or I would have had Edward contact you before now. I know he hadn't realized it either. He said right before he left that he was hoping to get back before it turned cold."

"Yeah well, Briggs is in the mountains up north. Of course, there's snow! North City would have snow by this time of year. Has Ed never been up North before?"

"I've never had a reason to send him up that way no. Last year East held the North-East events, and the year before he was down in Resembool for a resizing."

"Yeah well, he's still an idiot. He better not have dragged that baby all the way up there."

"I assure you he did not. When is your train?"

"In about ten minutes. Sorry to bother you sir, Ed's just not around for it. He drives me crazy sometimes with how careless he can be. I worry."

"It's fine Ms. Rockbelle. I understand, I worry as well. Please, again, call me Roy. We're practically family."

Winry hummed in response before offering a quick goodbye and hanging up. Vanessa knocked a moment later to ask if he would like any tea, so Roy packed back up his work and followed her to the kitchen. He could always finish it later, nothing was at its deadline yet.


	3. Conflict at Baschool

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Every time Roy thought they'd finally reached the limit on the bullshit level, something like this came up. A weaker man would give up at this point. He couldn't afford to question

Chapter Three

Conflict at Baschool

Fort Briggs

11:00 am

To say that Ed was surprised to see Winry was an understatement in that it didn't begin to cover the range of emotions the flew through him when she appeared on the outside of his cell lead by Kimblee. Hawkeye had warned him about Kimblee, and he had also seen enough already to know the man was bad news. Honestly, Ed would rather deal with the double-crossing backstabbing snake Raven. He knew it was already too late for that, however. Armstrong had taken care of Raven the night before.

Ed was escorted to the medical wing so that Winry could change out his arm and leg. He managed to grab her attention long enough to warn her to distrust Kimblee. Then Kimblee pulled Ed aside for his proposal. Ed's stomach sank as Kimblee outlined what they needed from him. He couldn't do it! He could not betray his people in such a way… but he could fake it. He learned from the best about deception.

Ed had to find a way to warn Winry and Al that things had gone bad. Then it hit him, and he demanded to be allowed to tell Winry the truth. She amazed him with her acting ability. If Ed hadn't known better, he would have thought she was shocked. Afterward he was even more impressed as she managed to get onboard to come with them without the dramatics.

Central City

Military Headquarters

Lunch Hour

Roy was surprised when Hawkeye joined him for lunch. They had been careful not to be seen speaking to her since they had transferred her out of his command. The message he passed on was deeply coded, to inform her Gracia wanted to talk to her, via mentioning files that needed attention. The message she passed on via a casual conversation full of gossip about their former co-workers was completely chilling. Selim Bradley a homunculus. Every time Roy thought they'd finally reached the limit on the bullshit level, something like this came up. A weaker man would give up at this point. He couldn't afford to question. His kids were on the line with this. Roy burned the note and left the bathroom, already integrating this new information into the list he'd begun about these creatures.

He returned to his office and smiled blandly at the staff and pulled the next file to him. The most important thing at this point was not to tip his hand. His boys were far beyond his reach right now, and Yuery was vulnerable. He wasn't backing down, and neither were his sons, but they needed to be careful to keep their loved ones safe. For now, he had to let them think they had beat him.

Baschool

2:00 pm

As far as Edward was concerned, this was the worst plan they had ever thought of. Winry allowed herself to be taken captive by Scar, to join a handful of people Ed didn't think they could really trust and head back to Briggs to hide.

As soon as he could rejoin them, he was going to convince Winry to go underground and hide far away from all of this. He wasn't sure how he was going to convince her but that was his plan. Then, as he was scowling angrily into space, one of the North City soldiers assured him that Winry wouldn't have been taken far, and that the storm coming in would prevent Scar's escape. This was not comforting to him. Worse, he then learned that Armstrong was no longer at the Fort.

Al rushed away to cut off the others and lead them to a safer location provided by Major Miles, while a Briggs soldiers impersonated his brother. Ed liked this plan less and less all the time. They needed to find a way to get away from Kimblee, and perhaps go underground himself. He loathed to do so, it would require the execution of several complex plans to reunite with Yuery, there of course was no question that he would be reunited with his son. Hopefully his father as well, but that was less likely thanks to Dad's need to organize the coup.

The confrontation with Kimblee could have gone a lot better, and now here he was at the bottom of a mineshaft, impaled on a beam. He couldn't die down here. His brother needed him. His son needed him. His dad would lose his mind. Ed wasn't a fool; he knew how close to the edge Roy was. Dad was about to lose his mind already; he didn't need a push like this. Ed had to make it back, no matter the price. He began to formulate a plan pushing the edges of blackness from his mind by sheer force of will. Should he pass out now he wouldn't wake back up and he couldn't let that happen.

Kimblee's men were down here with him, abandoned by him now that their job was done. Ed struggled to free them, then asked for their help getting the beam out of him. It was easily the third most painful experience of his life, falling only behind the feeling of having his leg deconstructed and automail surgery. Ed could never decide which of those had been worse. He had gone into shock shortly after restoring Al and didn't clearly remember anything after that. He barely suppressed the scream and the desire to let the darkness take him. He then used his own life force to heal his wound enough to survive it. The price, as near as he could tell, wasn't as high as he had feared. Later, when he had time, he would have to sit down and calculate how much time he just gave up. Not that it mattered, better less time at the end than no time at all. As he tried to walk away, intent on finding a way to catch up with the others, everything went black. He tried to push it back again, but he had reached his body's limit. His last thought as he faded away was that they better not tell his Dad he was dead.

Darius and Heinkel picked him up and carried him with them out into the fresh air. Heinkel then wrapped the boy in his coat to keep him warm and hidden as they made their way back toward North City. As far as they were concerned as soon as Kimblee tried to kill them it ended their contract. They needed to find the kid someone to help him, he saved them both they should return the favor, at least get him as far as medical attention.

Central

Mustang-Elric Residence

6:00pm

Roy had arrived home at five, and quickly changed, before taking over for Vanessa. She was staying with him to watch Yuery while he worked, but the boy was his responsibility. He wasn't pushing the job off on someone else. Yuery, who had gotten the hang of walking just before Ed had headed north, was toddling along behind him as he prepared dinner and let the pets out into the yard. The boy barely needed to be carried most of the time, or he would have needed more help he knew. His side still throbbed with pain every time he bent to pick the boy up or to feed the pets or to clean something.

Vanessa was upstairs, presumably relaxing, so Roy felt no embarrassment as he sang nursery rhymes with the boy. He knew if his foster sister was nearby, she would make fun of him for it, though he would still carry on with ducks swimming away and spiders climbing in the rain. It made his grandson happy.

He had just finished setting the table, and called up the stairs for Vanessa, when someone knocked at the door. Vanessa appeared at his side quickly and snatched the baby up to disappear into the study as Roy answered the door.

His stomach sank when he saw the two unknown soldiers on the other side grim faced and standing at attention. "Can I help you?" Roy asked, not bothering to ask them to stand at ease.

"Colonel Mustang, sir." The one on the left began formally, "We have been ordered to inform you that Major Edward Elric, Fullmetal Alchemist, has been reported missing in action as of fifteen hundred hours."

"I see. Where did he go missing?" Roy asked calmly, while fear coursed through his blood.

"He was reported missing in a mine collapse, the full report will be available and on your desk in the morning sir." Said the first man again, the second didn't seem inclined to talk.

"Is a search underway?" It was getting harder to control his reaction, he managed to still sound detached but just barely.

"No sir. It was deemed unnecessary, sir."

"I see." Roy said, before he asked hesitantly. "And Fullmetal's brother?"

"There's no word on the brother." The soldier said with a frown.

"Thank you," Mustang said before he closed the door and slid down it to lean his head against the cool wood.

Vanessa came up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder. Yuery squirmed out of her arms to climb into his lap. Roy tightened his arms around the baby, burying his face into the baby's shaggy black curls, fighting back the tears burning his eyes. They were missing. That didn't mean anything. They may have just found a way to slip off the radar and taken it. It didn't mean anything bad had happened to them.

He tried very hard to believe that, but he was scared. He couldn't bury those boys. Not like this. Not now. He was terrified. After a few minutes Vanessa slipped out of the house, as she informed him that she would go see what Madame could find out. He nodded wordlessly.

He sniffed once more as Yuery patted his cheek before the baby pouted up at him and asked "Food, Yeye?"

"Of Course, Yuery. Let's go get you your dinner, shall we?" Roy said as he stood with a shaky breath and carried the boy into the kitchen. He had promised Ed that he would take care of this boy whenever Ed couldn't. That included now. Once the boy was settled into his highchair and happily slurping noodles, Roy let the pets back inside and then crossed the room to the phone located in the kitchen.

He didn't care about the risks right now. He needed to talk to her, and he knew she would understand. After all she loved those boys too, and she knew how much he loved them. A few rings later, Hawkeye answered the phone.

"Hello, Riza."

"Sir? What is it?" Hawkeye asked with concern, after all he never called her by her given name.

"Edward, and Alphonse probably, are missing. Edward was involved in a mine collapse." Roy said in a strained voice.

"No." Riza gasped. She sounded about as well as he felt, which was almost as frightening as the idea of his boys being dead. She sounded like he felt, strained and scared.

"I thought you should know. I have no idea what I am to do now…I have to secure Yuery. I have to keep him with me." Roy said, growing cold. "What if they use this to try to take him? I can't fail him or Edward in this."

"Breathe Roy." Riza said firmly over the line. "I know you already planned for this, the need to keep Yuery secured. What was your plan?"

"Of course. Thank you, Lt., I'm lost without you." Roy said as his mind flew through the various plans, they had created to keep them all safe as long as possible. "I must be going now. Sorry to have disturbed you."

"Of course, sir. Have a good evening." Hawkeye responded before hanging up the phone.

Roy had barely stepped away from the phone before it rang. He answered on the second ring, to find Heather on the other end. Heather asked if he would mind terribly if she stopped in for a quick visit since her mother was in town and had made a lovely assortment of breads, but it was far too much for just the two of them. Roy agreed pleasantly before hanging up.

At least his mother was thinking clearly. She would kill him if she learned he'd been sloppy calling Hawkeye like that. He was surprised Hawkeye had been as polite about it as she had been, he knew better. A few minutes later there was a knock on his door. He smiled at Yuery and went to answer it.

One hand wrapped around a gun and the other posed to snap he carefully answered the door to Heather. She carried a large basket on her left arm and a coy smile on her face. She also was able to answer the daily question, so he led her through to the kitchen, relaxing slightly.

Inside her basket, under three fresh loaves of bread, was the adoption paperwork for Edward and Alphonse Elric, naming them legally the children of Roy Mustang. In addition, there was a signed letter of guardianship of Yuery Elric listing Roy Mustang as his intended caregiver. Madame had had these papers arranged before Edward and Alphonse had left town. These papers were not forgeries. Madame had kept them hidden from public view to be used only in the event that Edward suddenly became unavailable.

He and Edward had discussed this plan at great length, after all they both agreed that the adoption was something they wanted to happen after all this was over. Alphonse was less enthused at the idea than his brother but whatever it was that Edward had said to him had made him agree as well. They would take the name Mustang but keep the name Elric in honor of their mother. Mustang-Elric officially, though Mustang would be dropped on military paperwork. First parts of hyphens always were. This was convenient in a lot of ways as Ed wouldn't have to update any of his paperwork.

Roy hated that this was being done without the boys here. He hated that THAT was why he was doing this. It didn't change what had to be done. If it looked as though trouble would still be knocking on his door, he had a plan for that as well. He planned for everything he could think of and hoped there weren't any holes in his plans.

Briggs Mountain Range south of Baschool

Alphonse walked calmly with Winry and Mei ignoring the men ahead of them. While he understood why they had had to bring him along with them, and they were too far away to turn back, Al couldn't help but worry about his brother.

Something had happened to Ed; Al could feel it. He didn't have it in him to say anything to anyone in the group though especially not Winry. He did say several times that he needed to find a phone to call Mustang. Scar had curled his lip and Marcoh had frowned but no one argued against him called so Al decided they must not be planning to shoot him for it, first they had to find a town though.

Zampano, Jerso, Marcoh, and Yoki are arguing about where to go next after they captured Envy. Mei, it was decided, would take the creature back to Xing with her to save her clan and keep her safe. Alphonse would head south east, skirting the populated areas, along with Winry. After a long debate it was decided that Scar and the chimeras along with Marcoh and Yoki would follow Al as far as Liore and then decide from there. He was just glad they finally shut up.

They finally arrive at a small village, and while Winry ventures further on with the chimeras to buy supplies Al uses the phone at the train station to call Roy.

Roy answered on the third ring and for a moment Al wishes he could cry because it wasn't until he heard Roy's voice that he realized how much he missed the man and come to rely on him. In a small voice he said "Dad? It's me."

"Al? Where are you? The line's secure."

"I don't know exactly. Out east, still pretty far north. Dad, is Ed… have you heard from him?" Al said with a shuddering breath. "I lost track of him; I didn't have much choice if I wanted to keep Winry safe, but I lost him."

"Ed hasn't checked in yet, but I'm sure he's fine." Roy said without pause and only compassion in his voice. "Al you did exactly what he wanted you to so don't worry he isn't going to be mad at you and neither am I."

"Is Yu okay? If Brother is still gone then… they haven't tried to take him as a new hostage have, they?"

"No one's bothered us Al." Roy said then after a pause he added. "Ed's currently listed as missing, so are you so don't panic it just means he slipped away from them like we were hoping. However, to keep Yu safe I had to file the papers."

"That's okay, I thought you probably had…" Al said as the phone clicked to let him know his time was almost up. "I- I'm glad anyway. Ed was right, you are our dad. That doesn't mean my other dad isn't my dad too but it… I'm glad. I'll be home as soon as I can. I gotta keep Winry safe for now though."

"I know that's fine Al. I was very relieved to hear from you. Just keep yourselves safe. We'll be here when you get back."

Al hung up then just as Winry approached with a full bag of supplies. He nodded at her as they turned away from the ticket booth and began walking again. They wouldn't risk getting on a train right now, Al was too easy to identify and for all he knew they could decide to list him as wanted part of the way through the trip. He knew he wasn't wanted right now, or Dad would have warned him, but it was still a risk. At least they had supplies now he thought as they walked along, and he paused to stuff as much as he could inside his chest plate to help the others from having to be overburdened.


	4. Road to Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I'm sorry." Ed said. "I always make a mess."
> 
> "You always do the right thing, even if it makes a mess. There's a difference." Roy said. "Please though, don't be reckless. I can't attend another funeral."
> 
> "Yeah." Ed said, then to lighten the mood. "How about another baby shower?"
> 
> "… EDWARD ELRIC."
> 
> "I was kidding. Also it's Edward Mustang-Elric now."
> 
> "You are grounded. As soon as you get home. You are grounded." Roy said in frustration.
> 
> "I love you too. Give Yuery a kiss for me, gotta go." Ed said before hanging up.

Road to Hope

North City

9:00 am

Ed hated being out of contact. He wanted nothing more than to call home and check on his son, but until he had recovered enough for the doctor to let him out of bed he couldn't. He liked the chimeras well enough, and they had certainly gone out of their way to help him as had the doctor, but that didn't mean he trusted them with any of his secrets, including his son. Especially his son.

Since he had woken on this bed two weeks ago he had begged and pleaded to just be allowed up, but the doctor didn't trust his wounds and was worried he would rip something back open if he moved around too much. They had even forced him to use a bedpan for the first week! At least he was now allowed to hobble over to the bathroom when he needed to pee.

He wasn't stupid, and he knew the doctors weren't either. Though he had used an alias when asked for his name, he knew the doctor and her assistant knew it was made up. Worse they knew he had been lying then, but he ignored it. It was easier after a while. He was pretty sure they knew exactly who he was. He would buy their silence if that was what it took.

He sat up after tossing around for a bit, he just wanted to get going. It barely even hurt anymore unless he did something like lifting his arm above his head. While this meant there was no way he'd be able to defend himself in a fight right now, he did have his friends, and hopefully they would meet back up with his brother.

Liore

Early Afternoon

Their group had split after they left the mountains, with Winry and Al heading south with an air of determination born along the dessert. They were after all, born in the east in a little town nestled in the foothills, and it had seen more than it's share of violence. The chimera chose to travel with them. It was almost a relief to be free of the other three men, at least for Winry who barely tolerated being around the man who murdered her parents.

As they reached Liore Al noticed that despite his bother being told that Central forces had been dispatched to the area, they were no longer occupied. He was grateful, in that he was worried they would have to pass over the town and he was the only member of their group that didn't need rest.

Dinner was being served at the little place he and Ed had stopped at months ago when they had come into town. Everything looked different now. Gone were the statues of Leto and grandeur brought by the religion. Everywhere they looked were scorched buildings and scared earth. The people however seemed happy. Happier than Al assumed possible given what the area looked like.

He was recognized right away as they approached, but luckily it was by the shop owner and Rose, both of whom seemed happy to see him. Rose seemed far more subdued than the last time he's met her but he assumed that it was due to the recent occupation. He asked if she would help him keep an eye on Winry while he went to help with reconstruction for a few hours. He agreed to meet them at Rose's house in a few hours, before Rose led Winry away.

The real surprise came when he spotted Hohenheim. Without thinking he rushed over to the man and introduced himself. Hohenheim in turn asked after Edward. Al informed him that they were traveling separately at the moment, and quietly added that they knew about Father and the array. They talked while they worked on repairs around town, and Al found that while he was glad for the chance to finally meet the man he wasn't sure how he felt about the whole thing.

The truth was, as Al suddenly realized, that as far as his heart was concerned Roy was his dad, not Hohenheim. He felt guilty for feeling this, and attempted to remind himself that he had been hoping to meet their father since they started traveling and now that he had he didn't feel like he thought it would.

Al wasn't angry with their father. He wasn't really sad or anything else. He knew Ed was still angry and sad which made Al angry and sad but otherwise he was mostly indifferent. It was almost a relief as he worked beside the man he still wanted to know, but was no longer desperate for his approval.

Winry, meanwhile, wasn't sure what she thought of Rose. The other girl seemed to almost worship Edward. A boy Winry knew that she herself as in love with even with his flaws. Flaws this other girl didn't see. Rose described her short lived meeting with Edward, and Winry apologized for his rudeness, but the girl brushed it off. She was far more animated as they walked to her apartment and up the stairs than she had been when they'd seen her on the street.

Winry decided that she was absolutely going to tease Ed about his fans the next time they talked, which then served to remind her that they had no idea if Ed was alright or where he could be. For all they knew Ed had been captured and then listed as missing to hide his capture. She was also beginning to wonder when she had become so paranoid. Just because when Al had talked to Colonel Mustang Ed hadn't made contact, doesn't mean he was in trouble.

They walked into the apartment, and Rose turned to Winry suddenly, surprising the other girl with the excited yet unreadable expression on her face. "How do you know Edward?" Rose demanded.

"I've known him my whole life." Winry said carefully, unsure if she should be afraid of the other girl. Her fan-obsession seemed less amusing with no one around. "He's my best friend. I love him."

"Oh." Rose said, chewing on her lip. "Have you met his son then?"

"Oh yes. I know him well." Winry said. "I often watch him when Ed is busy."

"Is he a good Dad? I mean I got the impression he really loved his son, but that doesn't always mean they are a good parent."

"Ed is the most devoted father I have ever met. He's a great Dad." Winry said. "Why?"

"… It's complicated." Rose said, before gesturing for Winry to follow her further into the apartment. "After Ed and Al exposed Father Cornello everything was quiet around here for awhile. It was good. Safe. The East soldiers came in to clean up the mess he had made, the liar I mean not Ed. But then about a month and a half after that they got sent away and the Central troops came in. The fighting stopped just last month."

"Oh my! But that's nearly a year ago wasn't it?" Winry asked trying to calculate the occupation.

"Yes. Yes." Rose agreed. "People of Lior hate the soldiers especially Central soldiers. Edward… Ed was the only one I haven't heard anything bad about since all this started. No one around here blames him for any of it. Well almost no one."

"Why should they blame him? It sounds like he just helped. Even the soldiers he sent helped right? The ones from East."

"Yes, exactly." Rose agreed, stopping in front of a door. "The Central solders did a lot of damage here. Made widows and orphans wherever they could."

Winry nodded sadly as Rose opened the door. Inside two children sat playing on the floor. A girl about ten and a boy no more than four. Both had white hair and red eyes. Winry knew immediately how hard the occupation had to have been on these children as she frowned. What did that have to do with Ed though?

"I…I lied." Rose said. "I lied about something important because I never thought I'd see Ed or his brother again and because I didn't want anyone to attack us."

Before Winry could ask Rose walked over to the corner and picked up a tiny baby from a basket hidden behind a chair. Winry nodded in understanding.

Central

Mustang-Elric house

Evening

Roy was sitting on the floor, stacking blocks for Yuery while the baby toddled around him babbling happily. Cobalt and Fredrick the Great were laying curled together on the hearth, ignoring the toddler's antics. Vanessa had offered to make dinner, and Roy wasn't going to complain it had been a long day and he was relieved not to have to cook.

Yuery knocked over the block tower again before plopping down across from Roy and frowning as he tried to stack the blocks himself. He managed to place two on top of each other before gravity pulled them down, much to his frustration. He growled in a manner very similar to Ed before trying a second time.

The blocks still refused to co-operate with the boy, who howled his anger as he then threw the block in his hand hitting Roy in the forehead as the fire in the fireplace flared up the chimney and the pets startled. Roy stared at the fire in surprise, he hadn't activated his array after all, but brushed it off in favor of soothing the child.

It wasn't the first time something odd happened around the house the last few weeks, and Roy had given up trying to explain it. It wasn't often enough to worry about. Likely a draft had blown down the flue and stoked the flames. He dampened the fire, scooped up the baby, and headed of to the kitchen to check on dinner, incident already forgotten.

They had all sat to eat the beef casserole Vanessa had laid out when the phone rang. Roy motioned for Vanessa and Yuery to continue eating as he went to answer it in the next room. He hoped it was one of his boys, but wasn't holding out hope this late in the day.

Al was on the line, making Roy relax to know that Al and WInry at least were okay still. "Hello, Alphonse. I trust you are well?"

"Uh yeah. Win and I are fine. We're still on the move." Al said over the phone, knowing better than to say where he was exactly in case someone had managed to bug the house today. "We're planning on staying here overnight. I ran into someone while we were here."

"Something to be concerned about?"

"Not a threat…it was our father. He knows stuff that could be helpful to us." Al said. "I wanted… that is.. Can I tell him? That we're going to be in a new family? Would you mind?"

"I filed the papers Al, it's done. Tell whoever you feel comfortable telling. I myself plan on throwing a party as soon as we get you both back into the city."

"Oh good! Okay. Have you heard from Brother then?"

"Not yet."

"What if…What if they captured him and are covering it up by saying he's MIA. They could be doing anything to him right now and we wouldn't know! What if he's dead Dad."

"He's fine, wherever he is, he's fine. We have to believe that until we hear otherwise Al or we won't be able to continue on and it is too big to not carry on. I have to do this. For you. For Ed. For Yuery."

"Okay. Yeah. Okay. I'm sorry."

"No Al, don't be sorry. It's okay to be scared. I'm worried too. We just can't dwell on it. Besides, we both know how hard it is to keep Ed down. I'm sure we'll be hearing from him soon enough." Roy said with a sigh feeling bad for speaking to the boy so harshly. He needed to work on that, often he was either to vague or to blunt. There had to be a balance somewhere. "We both know he's going to check in on Yuery as soon as he can find a phone so I am assuming he is still out in the mountain somewhere. I fully expect to hear from him any day now."

"Okay. I'm going to go talk to HIM now to see what he is willing to tell me but so far he just asks about Ed."

"Very well. Call as soon as you can and give Winry my good wishes."

"I will good bye."

North City

Early Morning

Ed decided he had healed enough. The doctor hadn't said it, but that was what Ed had decided. He was still sore, and he had to be careful how he raised his hand but the doctors said that wasn't going to be a long term problem. The doctor said it would be a few more weeks to heal, and wanted him to be here for it. He was out of danger though, he hadn't developed a fever which would suggest an infection, and it was going to scar but it wasn't going to be any worse if he got back on the road.

Ed didn't ask, instead he sent them out to gather everything they would need and began his trip. He was going to have to stay low for awhile, which was another reason to do this now in case his funds were frozen he needed to grab some of it now so they could eat on the road, buy any supplies they needed, and call back again.

After he sent the chimeras out on little missions, he planned his own escape. Darius arrived with some clothes for him, so Ed dressed and informed the doctor that he was going for a walk and left before they could protest.

He found a payphone two blocks down and immediately called home. Luckily Roy answered right away before he could second guess himself. When he heard Roy's voice over the line, he relaxed tenseness that he had. He then paused to think about what he was doing. It was too late. He wanted to check on his son. He needed to talk to his dad. "Is the line safe?" Ed near whispered.

"It was this morning." Roy said with a small hitch in his voice. "Are you alright Edward?"

"I've been better, but I'll live." Ed said as he tried not to breathe to heavily in case the pain could be heard in his voice. "How is Yu? Have you heard from Al? Are you okay?"

"Slow down a little. Yuery is fine, Alphonse and Winry are together and safe but I don't know where. I'm fine… I had to file the papers Ed."

"… Okay. Well then I guess there's no reason not to call you Dad." Ed said, concerned what he meant by 'had to' but wasn't going to ask this time, his time was almost up. " I'm going to figure out what's happening next then I'll call back in a couple of days. Has anyone been sniffing around yet?"

"Not yet. You are officially listed as missing in action presumed dead."

"Yeah that's gonna change in the next hour or two. I sent someone to withdraw from my account, so I'll probably be either listed as a deserter or declared dead depending on how they handle it which why I wanted to call right now before there was an actual plan."

"Thank you for the warning. Depending on how they handle it, I may need to go with plan D. I'll let you know next time you call."

"I'm sorry." Ed said. "I always make a mess."

"You always do the right thing, even if it makes a mess. There's a difference." Roy said. "Please though, don't be reckless. I can't attend another funeral."

"Yeah." Ed said, then to lighten the mood. "How about another baby shower?"

"… EDWARD ELRIC."

"I was kidding. Also it's Edward Mustang-Elric now."

"You are grounded. As soon as you get home. You are grounded." Roy said in frustration.

"I love you too. Give Yuery a kiss for me, gotta go." Ed said before hanging up.

Central City

Mustang-Elric Residence

After Ed had hung up, and Roy's blood pressure lowered a bit, he had called his mother to let her know she should expect Vanessa and a guest in the next hour or two. He then went to wake Vanessa and explained quickly that plan D had been executed. As soon as he spoke, she began gathering her things which were mostly still in her suitcase. She would be leaving it here unless something changed in the next few minutes, but from now on she and Roy would be keeping a bag next to their bedroom doors in case they needed to run.

Roy went to Ed and Yu's room to pack for the baby. He hated this plan. He came up with it, but hated it. Yuery would be staying with one of Madame's girls until Ed called in with a meeting point, and they would then take the child to him. Roy would then be free to maneuver with the assurance that it was believed the baby was still in his care and his movements limited. This second part was likely not to last very long with what he learned about Pride, but any time they could buy worked in their favor.

Fifteen minutes after waking her, Vanessa was on her way to meet his mother and Roy was getting ready for work. In order to keep up appearances Vanessa would be back with in the hour and would continue to stay with him until they knew for sure Yuery was secure. Cobalt and Fredrick were unhappy with this turn of events, as they were not used to the baby leaving the house. They followed around behind Roy with expression he could only assume was disapproval.

Vanessa arrived back just before Roy left for work to assure him that everything had gone to plan. Roy thanked her and left without another word. It took him less than ten minutes to get to the office, but Roy nearly turned back a couple of times but restrained himself by reminding himself that Yuery wouldn't be there. Now he just had to wait to see where the chips fell.

Northern Area

Side of the road

Ed had been right, as soon as the request for his funds hit the bank in Central they knew he was active and come after him. He needed a plan and to get back in contact with his dad. That would wait until evening before he could call again though.

Ed needed to pick a safe spot to meet up, and if necessary, ditch these guys. He LIKED these guys though which was a problem. He trusted them, making it less of a problem or more of one if he was wrong.. After everyone had stretched and urinated they climbed back into the (now normal looking) car.

As soon as they were moving again he cleared his throat. "Hey guys. We need to talk about something."

"What's that?" Heinkel asked without looking back over his shoulder.

"If you want to leave me behind I understand. I get it. I'll even give you some of the money I have left and you can leave. I'd been okay. I've had jobs like that before but before if a that happens. We need to pick someone up just outside of Central." Ed rushed out to the other two nodded along but both insisted of staying.

Ed then decided the best way to handle this was to hope his brother met him there. They were going to love him and Yuery. Ed sighed then as he sat back to take a side was still very painful and being manhandled earlier when they escaped the military police had not helped. Neither had all the running around buying supplies.

Mustang-Elric residence

Everything had gone according to plan. Roy now just had to wait for Ed's call and set up the meeting time. The house was too quiet, too empty without any of the kids in it. He'd bought this place to fill it with children, instead he was all alone. He wanted a drink, but Vanessa refused to allow him to drink which he was glad for when the phone rang. He answered to find himself relaxing when he heard Al's voice on the line.

"Hello Alphonse. I'm afraid I can not stay on the line long, I'm awaiting a call at the moment."

"Brother?"

"Yes, I have confirmed he is alive and will be going into hiding"

"Oh thank goodness. I will call you back tomorrow evening. Thank you Dad, I was so worried."

Alphonse was gone before Roy could reply so he hang back up and watched a clock, it was nearly twenty minutes later when the phone rang again, this time to Ed. " You promised to be careful."

"I was the careful. Everything went exactly as expected. Or better considering no one had come near us since then. The house we were in the night all this mess sucked us in? In about a week. We'll call it eight days. Early evening." Ed said quickly.

"Very well. Again. Be careful."

"I always am" Ed replied before he hung up. He deeply hoped his dad didn't find out the extent of his injuries. He'd never hear the end of it. Eventually, Ed knew, Dad and Al would find out. Winry too. She was probably going to cry.

After the call happened Roy went to go clean the bedrooms for something to do. He allowed himself tonight to wallow in self pity tomorrow he had a coup to plan. Vanessa would be staying until they pulled the switch. He could drink himself to death after that. Until then, he was stuck with his thoughts, and no way to escape his failures.

He needed to find a way to keep his sons from coming to any further harm, if only he could convince them to leave the country until this was over. There was almost no chance of that happening. He wasn't even going to be the one to meet Ed when the stitch happened; he couldn't risk being followed especially after what he learned about Pride.

He could however, arm his son with as much information as possible. Luckily over the last few weeks their paranoia as alchemists had come in handy and they had developed a code that only the three of them understood. It was similar to the code he and Riza used to share information when out in public, one that the two of them had used often over the years and Maes had known as well.

After cleaning every room in the house, Roy sat down to write Ed a very cheerful letter about the upcoming harvest festival that would tell him everything Roy currently knew about the situation they found themselves in and a meeting place to discuss the plan in person a few hours before Promised Day. He would have to wait to see his children in person until then, but once this was over… he wasn't sure he ever wanted to be parted from them again.


	5. Revving at Full Throttle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Look. You guys saved my life. I trusted you not to turn me in or rob me blind. I trusted you to watch my back. I trust you guys. But I don't trust anyone with this secret. No one but my family

Revving at Full Throttle

Safehouse outside of Central

5:00 pm

Ed arrived at the safe house with the chimeras in tow just as the sun was setting. Madame had said that the girl bringing his son would be there just after eight so they had roughly three hours to wait. He had told Darius and Heinkel that they would be meeting his brother, knowing that Al was likely far away from Central. Ed himself planned to be far away from Central by morning.

Once they had sat down, and he acknowledged his brother wasn't here or coming, he said. "Okay, the truth is I am here to pick someone up, but I had to keep quiet about it as long as possible for their safety." Ed said as Darius suggested they just move on.

"In other words you didn't trust us with the information." Heinkel said with a frown.

"Look. You guys saved my life. I trusted you not to turn me in or rob me blind. I trusted you to watch my back. I trust you guys. But I don't trust anyone with this secret. No one but my family." Ed said. Heinkel seemed insulted still but Darius nodded in understanding.

Before anything else could be saved, Ling crawled out of the trees to create a nice distraction from Ed admitting he trusted these guys with his life but not his secrets. After feeding the prince a large amount of their rations and hearing his update on what was going on with the enemy Greed returned to control and started to walk off before Ed stopped him.

They came to an agreement and Greeling (as Ed dubbed him) joined their party. He tried to get them to move out at this point, being so close to Central, but Ed stopped him by saying he was still waiting for someone. The chimeras were surprised as they had assumed this is who he had been waiting for, but Greeling just shook his head and sat down silently in the corner.

After it had grown completely dark, and the others had started to grow restless, another person appeared through the trees. As the shape grew closer Ed finally recognized her as Kathleen, a younger member of the house, who he had met twice. In her arms was a sight that made him want to cry. His son snuggled sleeping in the arms of a near stranger, but safe. Safe and returned to him. He rushed forward, ignoring the others, as she came fully into the light of the lantern, unconcerned with traps. She saw him coming and with a smile she stopped moving so that he could snatch the child from her arms.

He hugged the boy to him, happy to see his son again, a huge grin on his face as the boy snuggled to his chest without waking before he turned to Kathleen with a frown. "You didn't ask the security question."

"I'm sorry?" Kathleen asked confused for a moment before it dawned on her what he meant and paled. "I'm sorry!"

"Where are you headed from here? Back into the city or further out?"

"Further out. If anyone happened to notice I had him with me when I left, they would be sure to notice if I came back without him." She said, still upset with herself for forgetting such an important step.

"Didn't Madame explain the process?" Ed asked as he led her back inside the destroyed building to gather their supplies and get ready to move on himself. The others were already working on breaking camp.

"She did. I forgot. I'm sorry. I haven't had a lot of important jobs yet, but that's no excuse. Are you going to tell her? She'll have my hide." Kathleen said.

"I'm not petty. Yuery's fine. But you are permanently off the roster." Ed replied. "You should get going now. We'll be gone soon ourselves."

Kathleen nodded somewhere between relieved and disappointed in herself. She left behind the bag Roy had prepared for Yuery, that had some things for Ed in the bottom including a clean tee shirt, a change of underwear, a toiletry bag, and a thick envelope of cash. Ed noticed these things as he quickly looked through the bag that was mostly full of diapers and clothes for his son as well as some toys and a few rattles. He left everything in the bag to worry about later, and tied the sling Kathleen had left behind around his chest before placing his son inside.

"Is this who we've been waiting for then?" Heinkel asked gesturing to the baby sleeping against Ed's heart as they began walking through the woods.

"Yes, this is my son, Yuery. He's almost sixteen months now." Ed said in response. He smiled down at the child as Greeling came up next to him and looked down at the sleeping child.

"Well. The prince is certainly attached to him so he can't be all bad. Just keep him from causing trouble." Greeling said before shouldering one of the packs and starting back out of the hole. "Are you all coming or not? We need to get going already." Ed rolled his eyes but followed behind his possessed friend, with the other two trailing behind. This was going to be a long trip.

Central

Mustang-Elric Residence

9:00pm

Madame had sent word with his date of the evening that Ed was picking up Yuery tonight. Roy had to resist the urge to meet up with them himself, if only to assure himself that Ed was indeed alright. He wasn't stupid. He knew Ed hadn't gotten out of that mine uninjured, it had taken far too long for Ed to make contact for everything to have gone smoothly.

There wasn't anything he could do though beyond what had already been done. They needed a plan, and part of that included getting in contact with the Armstrongs. General Armstrong had apparently sent the family on holiday and taken over the family holdings recently. He had to assume that meant she had taken Ed seriously. He planned to go see her tomorrow to insure that they were on the same page.

For tonight though he was stuck in an empty house, pretending he was okay with an empty house, and hoping Al would call so he knew his other child was alright as well. The last time Al had called, he was upset with himself because their birth father had made contact finally. Al wanted to hear the man out but hadn't wanted to betray Roy so he'd been all nerves when the call started. Roy had assured him that he was fine and no matter what happened Al would always be his son.

Where he had suddenly developed parental instincts Roy had no idea. Even this time last year, while he had begun to grudgingly help Ed with the new baby he wasn't this soft… he didn't think he had been anyway. It didn't matter, they needed to save the world his sons had grown up in, that his grandson would be growing up in, and to do that he would give up anything.

These monsters had taken his home, his family, his team and his love of his powers and ripped through every bit of him so that revenge was the best plan especially as his kids were hurt and hunted like his best friend had been. He would not lose to them, because he could not fail. Too many people needed him to succeed.

Somewhere in the East Dessert

9:00 pm

Al and Winry had left Liore after they helped for a day and his father had told him everything the man knew about what was going on. In exchange he had passed on what they knew. Al hadn't talked about Ed or Yuery or Roy. It wasn't until Hohenheim asked about Ed that Al realized he was just as angry as Ed was. He'd never let himself feel it, but he was mad. This was his father! This was a person who was supposed to care for them and protect them and he had just left.

Sure, Al believed him that their father had left to try to stop this whole mess. That some would see him as a hero or martyr. That part of him saw the man as that as well. But part of him was a four year old boy left alone when his mom died and his dad wasn't there. Had never been there. Had never swung back by to check. Never so much as a letter or phone call.

They'd been all alone. It had driven them to desperation. It had driven Ed to his guilt. They had been children! Al was trying, he was. But he was mad. He didn't know how to explain how he was feeling to WInry. He missed his brother. Brother would understand. Al knew he would, because Ed had felt like this, and Al. Al hadn't understood. Even when Ed found a way to make peace with his anger in accepting Roy. Even when Ed tried to explain it all. Al hadn't understood, instead he'd grown frustrated with his brother and now he just wanted to apologize because now he understood.

Winry nodded along as he explained, but he didn't see how she could truly understand. Her parents had died heroes. Sure they had left, but it was not their choice to leave her. The war took them away, Scar had taken them from the world. She wasn't mad at them because it wasn't their fault so she didn't understand. She must have felt it in the way he stood or hummed or something because she turned to him and said. "I get it Al. I do. It may not be fair but sometimes… sometimes I get mad too. Why did they have to die? Why did they have to stay, when they knew they could die and leave me alone? Granny is great, but it's not the same. So I understand. There' probably a part of you you're not ready to see, but it's there. You're mad at your mom too. She went hide it as long as possible, she didn't choose to die anymore than my mom and dad did but she did die. She left you behind, and part of you is mad about it."

Al started to deny it, before he paused to think. Was he mad at her? After a few minutes he realized he was. It wasn't fair to her, after all as Win had said they hadn't chosen to die. They didn't choose death but it had still happen. WInry mentioned the books and pamphlets about coping with grief and trauma. Al brushed it off, promising to look into it but not to help once all of this was over.

For now though, they had reached the next town and without Ed, everything they did looked like a couple. It was made worse by Al only requesting one room. He didn't sleep and saw no reason to waste their limited funds. On the other hand, it was embarrassing on the occasion like now when the innkeeper seemed to interested in their relationship. Winry would tell them simply that Al was her brother and she was offended they assumed otherwise so vehemently HE almost believed her.

Once they were safely in the room, Winry asked if he thought Ed was okay. Al nodded thoughtfully. "Dad- Roy couldn't say much over the phone because someone may be listening, but Ed's contacted him so he's gotta be okay."

"Good. If that idiot went and got himself killed I'd have to kick his ass." Winry said as she laid on the bed farthest from the door. Al briefly wondered how she would beat Ed up should Ed die before deciding if anyone could pull it off it would be Winry…or Teacher.

Thinking about Teacher was not comforting Al knew she would be mad at them about this mess they had gotten themselves into. He didn't think he wanted to call her even if he could. He missed his brother though. This was the longest he'd ever gone without seeing his brother in his life. Who knew when they'd see each other again? How was he supposed to figure all this out on his own? None of this was fair. All they wanted to do was get their bodies back and live normal lives, and instead they were drug into all this.

"Winry?" Al asked quietly, in case she was asleep.

"Yeah Al?" WInry replied, not turning over so she was still facing away from him.

"When all this is over…when we get our bodies back, and we stop these guys…everything. When all this is over, do you think Brother is going to quit like he says?"

"No Al." Winry said with a sigh. "I think he means it. I think he plans to quit, wants to quit, but unless he helps fix the country he's going to stay. It's who he is."

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"That it's who he is. I know he really does care about you. I think he loves you. But I think you're right, he's not going anywhere until it's all fixed."

"Well." Winry said. "I can imagine worse jobs. I guess."

Winry grew quiet after that as she considered the possible future. If one day, Ed wanted to see her seriously, or possibly even marry her (and the idea made her happy) could she live with her being a state alchemist? A soldier?... She thought about her parents. The good they had done. She thought about Mr. Mustang, and Mr. Hughes. She thought about Ed. And she wondered of she would be able to open a shop in Central.

"Winry?" Al asked quietly, she had been quiet so long he worried she may be asleep. He had heard some people talking when he had been in Lior. He wanted to ask but he didn't want to know. Winry grumbled an answer which reminded him strongly of his brother. "When you went with Rose and stayed at her place so I could help for a while… I heard things and well…Did Rose have a baby?"

"Yeah, I met him. He's adorable. She named him William." Winry said before yawning. "Going to sleep for a while okay Al?"

"Yeah sure. Good night Winry." Al said, before slipping into deep thought.

Undisclosed Location south of Central

Hunting Cabin

Normally, Ed would have been fine simply camping out, but with the baby in tow they needed to be sure they stayed warm and dry overnight. Greeling had pointed out the cabin a while ago, and after some internal debate, Ed agreed it looked like their best option.

It was a hunting cabin, designed for use over a long weekend or a short vacation. As such it was a single room furnished sparsely with four bunks, a table with six mismatched chairs, and a couch that converted into a bed. There was a short counter with a dry sink built in and a wood cookstove, to the left of the door and a fireplace to the right. The couch was situated in front of the fireplace, the table in front of the stove, and the bunks along the back wall. Just outside was a well and around the other side near the tree line was an outhouse.

Darius had gone into a village several hours back to buy supplies, so they had blankets and food with them, not enough to last them more than a couple days, but a bit. Ed was exhausted and tired of the men traveling with him right now he wished he could steal away for some quiet. He was too used to spending time with just his brother on the road. It had spoiled him as far as travel companions went.

Yuery wasn't helping either. Understandably, the baby was tired of being carried and just wanted down for a while. He was grumpily pushing against Ed's chest as they walked into the cabin, before Ed growled back at him. "Fine. Fine. Give me a damn minute." And untied the sling, letting the baby free.

"Hey, didn't you tell me just this morning not to cuss around the kid?" Greeling said from just behind Ed. Ed rolled his eyes but otherwise ignored the statement. "He's my kid I'm allowed to be a hypocrite." He'd learned that over the last year.

Darius set to work lighting fires while Heinkel began opening cans to make them a quick dinner. Ed went about making up the beds while Yuery wandered around the cabin grumbling to himself. Greeling flopped down on the couch and sighed theatrically. "No please, take a break. There's no reason to help out, it's not like you were carrying anything heavy around the last few hours." Ed said. "Lazy idiot prince."

"Still Greed kid. Minions make camp, not leaders…but if you want I can keep an eye on the kid while you go get us some water."

"Wow okay. Make sure he doesn't dive into the fireplace or anything… Darius please keep an eye on him too."

Without waiting to see if he had managed to insult anyone Ed disappeared out of the cabin. He made his way to the well, grateful for a moment's peace, and took the time to splash his face and hair before filling the bucket for the house. He'd been gone roughly five minutes. Yuery had been crying the entire time, but he'd expected that. Normally he would have brought the boy out with him, but didn't want to fight his son over being carried.

Ed reentered the cabin, to find Yuery screaming in the center of the floor while yanking diapers out of his bag and the other three ignoring him. "Seriously?!" Ed yelled as he stomped across the floor and started shoving diapers back into the bag. Yuery howled in frustration as the others ignored the frustrated father and with a loud clang the full bucket of water tipped over spilling its contents across the floor.

Everyone stared at the spreading mess, which seemed to be mostly slipping between the floorboards, as Ed finished shoving diapers into the bag and yanked both the bag and the baby up off the floor before they could get wet. "What the hell? The floor is even, how did that happen?"

"You must've set it down wrong when you rushed over to the kid." Heinkel said with a shrug as he stirred the pot of beans and salted pork.

"How? It has nothing under it?" Ed repeated setting the bucket upright then jiggling it to see if the bucket itself is uneven.

"Well, I guess you'll just have to go get some more then." Greeling said from his spot on the couch.

Ed sighed heavily. His side was killing him, as was his head. He just wanted to eat something, settle his son down, and get some sleep. He needed to stop moving so much or he wouldn't be moving at all tomorrow he knew from past experience. Darius took pity on him and picked up the bucket to go get some more water, as Yuery yawned loudly.

With in a few minutes they had all sat down to eat dinner, Yuery on Ed's lap. All of them were tired, so the conversation was kept to requests to pass items. Yuery fell asleep as Ed finished eating. Darius then cleared his throat. "I'm too heavy for the top bunk, Heinkel too. That baby shouldn't be up that high, so I think we should let Ed and the baby have the couch."

Greeling shrugs as he grabs another bowl of food. "Fine by me. Further away from me, less likely to wake us." This argument seemed selfish if it weren't for the fact that there was less than ten feet between the bunks and the couch. He was being nice but being a jerk about it. Ed shrugged and accepted it, it wasn't like he was innocent of ever doing things like that. Darius muttered something about teenagers and went to make up the couch. Soon the cabin was silent as everyone inside fell asleep or laid quietly in Greeling's case.


	6. Time to Recover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ed had been outvoted on the matter. He was pouting. Had he been asked he would have admitted it too, because it was going to be a very long winter with them constantly outvoting him. Why did Ling and Greed get separate votes anyway?

Time to Recover

Cabin

9:00 am

It had been decided in a four to one vote that they were staying in the cabin long enough for Ed to somewhat recover from his injuries. He felt frustrated with being so completely outvoted, but there wasn't much he could do about it. Darius had explained to Greeling what had happened up North and somehow both persona managed to proceed to panic over the whole thing. Ed had endured the strangest lecture of his life as the two switched back and forth as they nagged him over not informing them of his injuries when they had allowed him to walk several miles while carrying a squirming baby.

Now that that headache was over, and Ed sincerely hoped his Dad never found out about what had happened or if he did he believed Ed that he had already had The Lecture, he just wanted to take a nap. Yuery, however, wanted to play. This excuse launched another lecture. Ed eventually gave in and took a much needed nap just to stop the nagging.

While Ed grumpily laid on the bottom bunk normally occupied by Darius, Darius took Yuery for a walk around the yard. He promised not to take the child beyond where Ed could see them if he were to look out the window, but the child needed fresh air before winter really set in. Winter would be mild this far south, but it would hit them this far into the mountains.

After a long debate, and a great deal of pouting and fighting, Heinkel had walked back to the car to drive to the closest town to buy supplies. If they were staying in one place then they would need more than they had brought with them. Like with his injuries, Ed had been outvoted on the matter. He was pouting. Had he been asked he would have admitted it too, because it was going to be a very long winter with them constantly outvoting him. Why did Ling and Greed get separate votes anyway?

Greeling stayed in the cabin, situated so he could watch over Darius and Yuery, as well as Edward. Ed glared pointedly at him…them…whichever it was. Probably them. He thought about getting back up just to prove he was fine, but he was very tired. The truth was, those doctors up north had said he needed time. He didn't have time.

Eight to twelve weeks they had said. He had given it three. Two in their bed and one on the road. That should have been enough. Apparently no one else agreed with him, but he couldn't let himself go soft, they had ten weeks until Promised Day. He needed to be able to fight. He had healed himself partly, had he been able to talk Mei into teaching him some of that healing alchemy she did he would be fine right now!

"I can hear you thinking, it's that loud. Go to sleep." Greeling said without looking away from the window. "The more you sleep the quicker you'll heal. You're my general in this fight, I need you in top shape."

"Excuse me, I'm your what?" Ed said, half sitting

"Seriously kid. Lay your ass down and go to sleep or I will make you."

Ed rolled his eyes but laid back down. He wasn't up to fighting Greed right now, Ling maybe but not Greed. Ed rolled away from Greeling so he wouldn't have to look at them. It was a terrible mistake to roll onto his injured side. He hissed in pain, and curled into a ball. He had a lot of empathy for his Dad right now, and felt like he owed him an apology for leaving him alone with a toddler for two weeks like that.

"Take this." Greeling said, suddenly right above him. Ed blinked at him blankly, before noticing the glass of water in one and a handful of pills in the other.

"What's this?" Ed asked, he hated taking pills and avoided it as much as possible.

"Low grade pain killers that came from the first aide kit. Come on kid, just take them." Greeling said.

Reluctantly Ed took the pills and swallowed them with the full glass of water before laying back down with a hiss. "Do you need help with the bandages?"

"No, I've got it." Ed said as he closed his eyes, trying to fall asleep.

"Ed. Remember what you said about letting other people help me. It's okay to need help sometimes? I think that applies here."

"Ling?" Ed asked before he sat up a little to look at his friend. Aside from the lecture earlier and the safe house, he hadn't really seen Ling inside Greeling in awhile. It was a relief to know his friend was still in there somewhere.

"He said I need to talk some sense into you because he doesn't need a minion that won't let himself heal. We're all worried about you Ed, please let everyone help." Ling said, before the change came over his face that let Ed know Ling was going away again.

"Hey no. Let him stay out. Greed c'mon you never let him talk." Ed said "Fight him Ling! Stay with us."

"Sorry Ed, it's too hard to hold on right now." Ling said before Greed returned. "Tell you what kid. Get some rest, take care of yourself properly for the rest of the day, and I'll let the prince out long enough to play a round of cards with you. You need to discuss the plan anyway."

Ed huffed but went back to laying down. He wanted to talk to Ling about what they were going to do, and if the price was taking a nap then he would take a nap. He was really very tired anyway.

Central HQ

3:00pm

Roy had never hated paperwork as much as he did now. Without his team. His Hawkeye. His children. He felt so hopeless on days like today. He had had to endure a meeting with the Generals as if he didn't know damn well they didn't care about the people of this country. His people deserved better than this!

He had lost, burned, or buried the orders eight times now, but they were going to keep pushing. It had been decided they were attacking the northern border and Roy was to send some of his men. He would not be joining them, just dividing out some of his troops to go. On one hand, this was good in that he was not going to be expected to use his fire to kill. On the other hand, he knew they were demanding he send his men to die while he sat here in his nice comfortable office.

He growled at the order, before it was misfiled conveniently without him ever officially seeing it. He was not sending his men to die without a fight, even if the fight was very passive aggressive. He stared out of the window for awhile, for the first time in years not caring about the spots on the glass. The view wasn't something he cared to see clearly anyway.

Before he could go any further down the road of depression and hopelessness, his phone rang. "Mustang." He barked over the line.

"Colonel Mustang, sir. You are required over at the Court Marshals office as soon as you are available." The voice said over the line. Judging by the nervous tremor of the tone, and the timid way of requesting Mustang's appearance, this woman was new. Mustang took pity on the probable-private and politely informed her he would be there within a half an hour.

He then hung up and made his way out of the office, ignoring the half hearted protest of his current adjutant. Had it been Hawkeye, he wouldn't have made it to the door without a fight. The young man did rush to catch up with him, and panting slightly, joined him by the time Mustang had reached the front steps.

Wordlessly he rushed through the park toward the court marshal office, where his best friend had once been stationed. He hated coming here. The last few months had been nothing but a nightmare, and it all lead back to this moment. Had Hughes not died… well his sons would still be safe in his home, and his team would be in tact. His life would not be in shambles.

He would find a way to stop these monsters, and he would find the one who killed Hughes. There was no question in his mind as to if he could. He simply would. He didn't speak to the man at his side during the walk over, or when they arrived at the front desk. He simply announced his presence and waited.

A few minutes later Colonel Faulker came out to meet him, and lead him back to his office, Roy assumed. It was unusual for any Colonel to collect anyone themselves which raised Mustang's concerns. More so once they reached their destination, not Faulker's office, but the holding cells for those awaiting trial.

He didn't think they would try to arrest him, and if they did it should be by someone higher ranking than him… or at least an alchemist. He was about to demand an explanation when Faulker froze and turned to him, before waiving off Mustang's aide. Mustang nodded for the man to wait back in the lobby.

"I shouldn't be doing this, but the case makes no sense so I called you in. I mean. I have met Edward Elric a few times when he visited Col- General Hughes." Faulker said, and Mustang briefly wondered if this man could be trusted with the truth of what had happened…but after Raven Mustang was not inclined to bring too many in.

"What about Edward Elric?" Mustang said stiffly.

"We have an Edward Elric in custody, only he doesn't look a damn thing like the Edward Elric I met in General Hughes office a few months ago. So I need you to confirm who this boy is."

Mustang felt like there was ice in his blood. There was no way Ed would have been caught, right? No Ed had to be far from the city by now, and laying low. Besides Faulker didn't think this was Ed. Even if it was, Roy would deny it, then get the boy released and find out what had gone wrong. Unless it wasn't his Ed he was just walking away.

Mustang is led to a cell that supposedly contained Edward Elric. Inside sat a teenage boy, with light blond hair, cut short, and blue eyes. Even before he stood, he was clearly taller than Ed. He also had two flesh hands, and judging by the sound of his steps as he came to the door, feet as well. Mustang looked completely unimpressed at this boy who was pretending to be his son.

Ed had told him about this boy, about two years ago now, roughly a month before Ed's trip to England, Ed had found out someone was pretending to be him. Instead of calling for help, he's handled it quietly. Then proceeded to rant about the boy to Roy in great detail.

"That is not Edward Elric." Mustang said tonelessly.

"Who are you?" The boy asked defiantly.

"Well, that settled it." Faulker said. If the boy had been Edward Elric certainly he would have recognized his commanding officer. Plus he had heard rumors that Mustang had adopted the boy recently. "Can you confirm why you deny his identity.

"Certainly." Mustang said calmly. "Fullmetal has two automail limbs, his right arm and left leg. He is rather short for his age, around five feet four inches. His hair is long and dark blond, and he has never gone more than five minutes without yelling once someone called him short."

"Alright boy. Who are you?" Faulker asked the boy in question.

"Russell Trigham. I believe. Unless there is a second teenager who makes a habit of stealing Fullmetal's identity." Mustang said. "Fullmetal filed an incident report in spring of 13 about this matter, though I hadn't heard of any newer issues until today."

"Okay you got me. I'm not Edward Elric. Can you let me out now?" said the boy.

"I think not. Impersonating a state alchemist is a crime." Faulker said with a frown. "What should we do with him, Mustang? Normally the punishment is automatic enlistment and sent somewhere nasty, but this one is a child."

"As is Fullmetal." Mustang said with a shrug. Both men were lying. The most the boy would normally suffer was six months in prison and a 10,000 fine. The boy didn't need to know that though.

"Hmm. Well, I don't think there are any openings in the Program at the moment so you wouldn't be allowed alchemy while working with us so you'd be a regular enlisted." Faulker added.

Please. I wasn't thinking. I swear I won't do it again." The boy said, and Mustang almost believed him. Then he remembered the boy had done this before.

"Well. I suppose I could put him to work in my office. I am a tad short staffed right now, and I could keep an eye on him, see if it would even be worth our time to consider offering him a chance to take the State exam." Mustang said with a long suffering sigh. "Could you keep him until I can make the arrangements?"

"Yes sir. Now that you're on board with whatever is being planned."

"I will, of course require a full confession of every incident of identity theft which I will cross-reference and establish by the end of the week. It will be his first assignment in my office." Mustang said, already calculating how he could use this to cover up Ed's mis-step sending someone to take money from his account. If he played this right he could get Ed back on the MIA list and off the AWOL which in the end would look better both for his record and with the enemy.

The boy didn't understand what was going on, but he suspected he had gotten himself into a lot more trouble than he had originally assumed. He just hoped his brother was alright. As the two men walked away from his cell, presumably to arrange paperwork for his release, he decided he was just glad he had managed to get Fletcher to run and hide when the MPs arrived.

5:00 pm

Mustang had finished writing up the boy's confession for him, and returned to collect him. The boy glared defiantly at him as he slid the paper across the table. Mustang sighed deeply before saying quietly. "Your release can only be processed after you sign this."

"I've never been North of Central." Russel said.

"Well, now you have because otherwise there are two people faking who they are and we would have to seek out the second person before we could release you."

"Edward would not be happy about this."

"Edward would not be happy with you pretending to be him. Again. Just sign the paperwork, it's been a long day for everyone."

Russell caught the thinly veiled threat. Sign or we seek out your brother. He signed the confession and remained silent as Mustang then stood and gestured for him to stay put.

Mustang walked back into Faulker's office with the file. "I interviewed the boy, and he gave me a full list with very little pressure, which leads me to believe it isn't complete, but it is a start at least. It appears though that Edward Elric has not resurfaced since the mine collapse after all."

"Hmm. I suspected as much as soon as I saw this boy." Faulker. "Are the rumors true that you recently adopted Edward?"

"It is. I double checked the laws and it would not affect him being under my command. The boy needed better supervision." Mustang said in reply.

"I am sorry then, that your son is missing."

"Yes, thank you. I apologize for being short with you."

"Quite alright, understandable considering the situation."

Mustang then returned to the room the boy was being held in, and lead him out to his car. Once they were underway Russell grew bold enough to start asking questions. "Edward was involved in a mine collapse a few weeks ago. He was presumed missing possibly dead until the money was removed from his account at which time it was presumed he had decided to not return on his own. However, Edward did not remove the money himself but a proxy removed it."

"So you need help to find out what actually happened, but need the investigation department to back off before you can look into it?" The boy asked.

"Yes and no. I know what happened. I do not need to investigate into the situation further, but I do need them to back off of the subject so that we can focus on more important things. "

"Okay. Ed said that if I ever needed anything and couldn't get ahold of him, to come to you because he knew you could be trusted. If he said that then I guess we can because he doesn't trust anyone."

"I was unaware that you had been close enough for him to recommend any advice."

"Yeah well, he liked my brother. He certainly nagged me enough about needing to take better care of him." Russell said with a pout, before he realized they had pulled into a rather nice looking house. "Where are we."

"My house. I need to sort this out, and can't have you slipping away while I do."

Russell reluctantly followed the man inside, not sure if he wanted to trust him based on the word of a somewhat friend. They were greeted by a small dog, and a cat when they entered the house. "Shoes off if you please. I prefer the house remain clean."

Russell frowned but toed off his boots, as Roy took off his own shoes then coat, before he lead the way into the living room. Roy gestured toward the phone and offered to allow him to call his brother and invite the boy to join them. Russell was uncertain if that was the best plan, but he didn't want to leave Fletcher on his own for too long.

After he had called their hotel, which Fletcher was luckily still remaining, he went in search of the colonel. Mustang was in his study, looking over some paperwork, but not sitting down, instead leaning over the file. Russell hovered in the doorway until he was invited in. "I understand that you are reluctant to become involved in this situation. I am reluctant to involve you. Once the paperwork is officially filed, and you are interviewed a second time, you will be free to go. I request that you continue to maintain what was written in the confession or we could both be in trouble. Mostly you because of you signing the paper to begin with."

"What do you need from me."

"I need you to say you did these things, then I need you to take the money and supplies I get you and take your brother and disappear. Preferably over the border." Roy said calmly.

"How much trouble is Ed in?" Russell asked. He hoped to see Edward around somewhere once he had overheard people talking about him living with Mustang, but so far no one else had appeared.

"A lot. Ed is missing, no one knows where he or Alphonse have gone." Roy replied. "He is currently listed as missing but the presume he has deserted. Once these papers you signed are filed, he will go back to being missing and the search will resume."

"I understand. You're sure I won't be arrested for this? I can't leave my brother alone."

"If you do exactly what I say, you both will be fine."


	7. Separate Paths

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Glaring at me without saying anything is real passive aggressive bullshit kid. I expected better from you, if you have something to say to me, say it." Greeling said in a bored voice.
> 
> Ed sighs heavily before deciding to go ahead and let off some steam. He sits up while glaring before carefully climbing out of bed and stomping over to Greeling. "Okay. You want to hear it? Here it is. You are the most annoying travel companion I've ever met, which is saying something since I've met LING. You refuse to help with anything, you encourage my kid to misbehave, and you stoked the damn fire when it is already warm in here!"
> 
> "Fair. I try to be annoying so I'm glad it's working. Your little cherub doesn't need encouragement so get that out of your head right now, he's bad all on his own. And I didn't touch the fire."

Separate Paths

Mustang-Elric Residence

7:00 am

Mustang was followed constantly now. He knew they must know the baby was gone. They had no idea where, or they would have gone after him. This was good, but at the same time it limited Roy's movements. He couldn't risk anything out in the open, but he learned this game long before he learned how to transmute even the simplest circle.

On his mother's knee he learned to sneak information from one location to another. At her side, he learned to code secrets into innuendo. His entire childhood was spent in the web of the best information network on the continent. Grumman and his mother had worked together for as long as he had been around, probably years before that as well, though he had never asked.

It was through this network a teacher had been arranged for Roy when he showed talent toward alchemy. It was through his mother's charms Master Hawkeye had agreed despite whom the request had come from. It was through his own intellect and cunning that he impressed Master Hawkeye long enough to learn everything he needed to know.

All of this was once again proving useful as he maneuvered a coup under their noses and all they saw was a beaten man. A coup was what he was planning. Remove the monsters ruining his country, threatening his children. Find the one who killed Maes Hughes. Save them all. These were his current goals, and he had no intention of failing.

He noticed after the first time of arranging to be led to a private room, that the men left to watch after him preferred to wait for him outside. No doubt believing, he was simply disgusting, not that he was plotting. He kept up the act, flirting and semi drunk until led into a back room where the girl in question would pass on the information. Since he was warned about Pride he had insisted on the room being pitch black. He had explained why to Madame, who now was arranging for all information exchanges to occur in the dark. She explained to everyone else it was because they were being watched but didn't give any further details.

His mother's sources had confirmed what Major Armstrong had assured him to be true. General Armstrong was not compromised she could be trusted. He began making plans to arrange a meeting with her at her mansion. Grumman was also safe. No other general had been vetted, and Roy loathed to dig to deep and tip his hand. They would be enough. They would have to be enough.

He made his way back out of the bar and stumbled his way home. Occasionally singing loudly or laughing at thin air, to give the impression that he was drunk. He made sure to ignore the guards so completely one would assume he never noticed them. In the weeks since his children went into hiding, he had gotten very good at pretending not to notice being watched.

Once he arrived home, he dropped the act. Frankly he didn't care if Pride knew he was sober. Obviously, the little shit wasn't sharing with the class if he was actually bothering to watch Roy anyway. Roy wandered through the empty room, and briefly wondered where Vanessa had wandered off to, as he let the pets out into the yard and busied himself making a cup of tea.

Fredrick wandered back into the kitchen before Cobalt, which was normal for him, before settling down at Roy's feet as his reluctant roommate made her appearance. Roy smiled at her halfheartedly, and once again wondered if he should just send her home now. Anyone watching would know by now that the baby was gone, and they hadn't followed when the child disappeared so it would be hard to find them, near impossible considering Ed history of going underground.

Hunting Cabin

Midnight

The chimera were both sound asleep, as was Yuery. Greeling was sitting at the table calmly drinking a mug of tea and Ed was laying next to his son on the sleeper couch, hoping he appeared to be asleep. Though Ed had apologized for being so rude their first day and the matter forgotten, everyone's stress levels were still elevated.

The cabin wasn't helping matters, Ed decided. They'd been here for a couple of weeks now, and the place was definitely weird, and possibly falling apart. Things were constantly breaking, or falling over, or the fireplace randomly flaring. It was driving him nuts. This place wasn't safe for his son. The worst part was every time he brought it up to the others Mr. Gorilla (and no he will NOT stop calling him that) says the place is haunted. Lion King (NO he will not stop using THAT) shrugs it off and Greeling (He'll stop using it as soon as it's no longer valid) smirks in a knowing way but says nothing. He wouldn't put it passed Greeling to be causing some of it somehow.

Ed rolled over with a groan and punched up his pillow in an attempt to get comfortable. It wasn't working. They were in that time between winter and spring where it was too hot with the fire but too cold without it. He had banked the fire before he laid down, but the flames were tall and cheery again. Clearly Greeling had stoked the fire. He hadn't heard him go over there, but clearly he had because aside from Yuery crying in his sleep, nothing had stirred in the cabin since they'd gone to bed.

Ed made sure to glare at the idiot as he shoved off the blanket and rolled back to his other side. It was getting annoying being here. They were going to have to move on soon anyway, as they were running low on supplies and the nearest snares were no longer catching anything. Ed refused to widen the radius, that was just asking for someone to follow them back to the cabin. Tomorrow he would talk to the others about it.

"Glaring at me without saying anything is real passive aggressive bullshit kid. I expected better from you, if you have something to say to me, say it." Greeling said in a bored voice.

Ed sighs heavily before deciding to go ahead and let off some steam. He sits up while glaring before carefully climbing out of bed and stomping over to Greeling. "Okay. You want to hear it? Here it is. You are the most annoying travel companion I've ever met, which is saying something since I've met LING. You refuse to help with anything, you encourage my kid to misbehave, and you stoked the damn fire when it is already warm in here!"

"Fair. I try to be annoying so I'm glad it's working. Your little cherub doesn't need encouragement so get that out of your head right now, he's bad all on his own. And I didn't touch the fire."

"Bullshit. No one else was awake."

"I don't lie kid. It was the baby if you're interested." Greeling said still bored sounding as he walked out of the cabin to presumably wander around the woods.

Ed glared again. What did he mean it was the baby? It couldn't have been the baby. One, he was a baby. Two, he was asleep aside from that momentary nightmare thing. Three, how could a baby do anything! It wasn't like he was magic… shit the baby was magic. Or at least he had magic parents, which meant he was probably magic. Why hadn't Ed considered this? He needed to do some research and there wasn't a way to get the books he needed especially now with him being wanted. Not that he could have gotten them anyway with that section being restricted to only a handful of people.

Yuery rolled over and snuffled in his sleep as Ed smiled down at him. Well there was only one solution. If his baby could do magic, then he would simply have to learn to control it. Ed would make sure of it. They couldn't worry about it right now though. Yuery clearly wasn't going to get them killed so for now Ed would ignore it. He sure as hell wasn't letting anyone else in on this one.

Hamilton Inn

1:00am

Al read silently as Winry slept. They had been out of contact with everyone else for the last couple of weeks, and had agreed earlier tonight that they needed to find a way to contact their allies, if for no other reason to find out if there was a plan. Al had been thinking about it all night and finally come up with the answer.

Roy (Dad) was great with codes. He could break almost any code he saw, with the exception of Ed's, but to be fair not even Al could break Ed's completely and Ed was his brother… and Al had been there for everything Ed had written in his 'travel log'. Al would send Roy (Dad) a coded message with a date and time to be next to the phone, and Al would be sure to call exactly at that time. If he knew anything about Ed then, Al would be grateful, but overall he wanted to know what the plan was. They were rapidly running out of time before Promised Day.

Before they left Liore, Al had pulled some of their allies aside to arrange to meet them the day before Promised Day to smuggle Al back into Central and Winry to safety. Winry didn't know this part yet, because Al didn't want to fight with her. She seemed to think they would be meeting up then making a break for it, but Al couldn't tell her the plan yet. Not until it was already underway to keep her deciding to do something reckless and stupid like following him back to Central.

He was sure she was asleep before he slipped out of the room in search of a payphone. He had arranged when and where to meet nearly everyone, except the scariest of all. He usually avoided these calls, pushing them off on his Brother but Ed was gone now so it was up to him. He was going to have to call his teacher.

Sig picked up on the third ring, which was good in that it meant Teacher was having a good day. Still Al almost wished they'd been out of town or something because this was not a conversation he wanted to have. "H-hello Sig. Is Teacher in?'

"Alphonse! Yes of course. You never call, has something happened to your brother?" Sig asked, and Al heard Izumi demanding the phone in the background before he could respond.

"Al? Alphonse? What happened? Where's your brother?" Izumi demanded over the line. He could feel her anger from here.

"I don't know exactly where Brother is right now- BUT HE'S SAFE- We just aren't traveling together at the moment." Al said quickly.

"What have you done now?" Izumi demanded.

"Well. The thing is…we didn't do anything? But there's a big problem and we need to fix it. Is there anyway you could meet up with me? Later this week maybe? Phoneline's aren't real secure right now so I'll find a way to give you a time and place."

"Okay. I'll see you then Al." Izumi said in a slightly softer voice. "And Al?"

"Yes Ma'am?"

"Find your brother."

Al hung up feeling shaken. More so after he realized he was going to disobey a direct order from his teacher, because there was no way he was looking for his brother. Ed and Yuery were safer in hiding.

Armstrong Estate

6:00 pm

Roy had been allowed a glimpse of what had been planned. Apparently Edward had been very busy when he was up North and there was very little he needed to fill in. Grumman had also been in contact with Armstrong and she was well aware that this was Mustang's play. She deferred to him in the matter, and they managed to get along for a grand total of forty five minutes. Which was a good thirty minutes longer than their record.

It of course was a temporary truce, that ended with their meeting. Armstrong threw a barb toward Mustang's ambitions and he in turn threw one at her. He then gave her the flowers, with the message hidden within. He antagonized her once more before walking away as she threw the flowers in the bonfire. No one saw her slip the message under her glove.

From there he made his way to his mother's bar where he finally spotted the guards he had managed to shake an hour ago. They had rightly assumed this is where he would end up, and he wasn't going to disappoint. He changed course quickly before they could see him and climbed the fire escape and climbed into one of the unoccupied rooms before calmly walking back down the stairs, grabbing Ariel along the way in case this time they sent someone inside.

Once he was in the bar again, he pulled Ariel to him and whispered for her to let Madame know that everything was set. A few minutes later, he calmly walked out of the bar and passed his guards, once again pretending not to notice them. They scrambled to keep up as he swayed his way down the street and back home. He loathed to admit it, but this part was kind of fun.

Abandoned Windmill outside Dublith

8:00pm

A neighborhood child had delivered the message just before closing telling Izumi where to find Al, and when to meet him. She had gone about her evening as usual before slipping away to take a walk. Izumi had arrived fifteen minutes early, and spent that time watching the mill to ensure it wasn't a trap.

Al was already inside, but watching in the shadows in case someone had intercepted the message. He had hidden Winry safely near by with instructions to run if he wasn't back by midnight. He could only hope she listened. Teacher came into the mill at exactly eight, silent as a ghost. When no one followed her, and there was no movement behind her, Al allowed himself to step forward into the murky moonlight.

They stared at each other for a moment silently, before Izumi broke first. "Where's your idiot brother, didn't I tell you to find him?"

"You did. I didn't look. We're safer apart right now." Al said softly. "Brother is officially listed as AWOL and I stand out too much for him to hide properly if I'm with him."

"So he finally wised up and realized the military is as bad as I said?" Izumi said with a snort as she crossed her arms over her chest. "What did his precious colonel turn on him?"

"No, Dad wouldn't do that! He's in as much trouble as we are." Al defended, then with a sigh he began digging through his chest in search of the map he had brought with him to explain. "We're in trouble Teacher. The whole country, but especially us and that includes you. I was told, you are on the sacrifice list."

Before she could ask, he had spread the map out on the floor and begun explaining everything they knew, and what they were planning. They were intending to stop Father before he could activate the array, and were gathering forces to help them do this. Izumi listened without interruption before adding in that she had seen Hohenheim recently, that the man had healed her enough that she should be good for a fight.

Al nodded before glancing at his watch, and telling her he had to go. He was reluctant to leave, but couldn't linger. There was still so much to do. Izumi left before him without a backwards glance. He assumed she was still angry they had not only joined the military but were calling a state alchemist dad. She already knew Ed did, but last she heard Al was still holding out.

Still, from what she had witnessed, Mustang seemed to actually care for these children, even if he had done a terrible job watching over them. Thankfully, she had taught them to take care of themselves. She made her way back home to get ready for bed, and tell her husband they would be making a trip to Central.

Cabin

8:00 am

Ed was bored, the other three still weren't letting him do much, despite feeling better. How was he supposed to be ready to fight if he got all flabby? He asked Greeling this a few times, but was ignored. This morning he was frustrated enough that he got up early to take a walk in the woods.

He knew Greeling had seen him leave, and the baby was sound asleep. Ed wasn't going to overdo it, but he needed the exercise and the chance to think. He knew there was something going on with Yuery. He knew it was magic, after his initial denial he knew it was. The question was, was it natural or because of the issue with the extra soul. Was that getting worse somehow? He couldn't tell himself, and he didn't know how to ask for Ling to check without tipping off Greed and the chimeras…though he supposed Greed must already know if Ling knew.

Ed made it out of the clearing and began a light jog around the edge just inside the tree line. He wasn't leaving the area because he wanted to be able to keep the cabin in sight in case of trouble. After a few laps, he did some stretches before transmuting a dummy to spare with. It wasn't as good as a partner, especially his brother, but it was better than nothing.

After about an hour, Greeling appeared at his side. "That's enough kid. You still have healing to do and this isn't helping. If you rip something back open you won't be fit to fight."

"How long have you been watching me?" Ed asked, pausing but not releasing his stance.

"Since you slipped out. Don't worry Darius has the baby."

"While I got you alone," Ed started then glared at the smirk, "Just shut up. No since we're alone. I need a favor from him. I need him to promise to keep an eye on Yuery and let me know if his problem is growing."

"You mean the extra soul? Yeah he's not getting any stronger as far as Ling can tell, but he's not a soul expert. You know more about these things than he does."

"I can't read qi though, so I need to rely on him for his impressions so I know what I'm looking at with this. Would you let him out for a while the chimera's check the traps, see if everything's still okay? Don't tell the others."

"Yeah, hold on." Greeling said even as his stance shifted slightly as Ling surfaced. Ed smiled at his friend, before they headed to the cabin. Ling never knew how long Greed would give him and he wanted to look at the baby, who as it turned out seemed to be exactly the same as he had been last time Ling had checked.


	8. Scattered Allies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A look into what everyone else is doing to prepare for the battle.

Scattered Allies

Eastern Region

Late Winter

Jerso, Zampano, Yoki

Jerso, Zampano, and Yoki traveled hidden in plain sight throughout the winter as entertainers. It had been a simple plan, one which they hadn't fully believed would work, but it was the best they had been able to think of at the time. Someone had to get word out to the scattered remains of Scar's people and their allies. No one really paid attention to entertainers, and dressed in thick grease makeup, no one made the connection between a group of clowns and the wanted posters posted at every train station.

In short, it was working. Every town they came to, one of the chimera would venture into the slums and seek out the Ishbalans, they would pass on the message from Scar including the old coded phrases to get the ones in charge know it had been one of their brethren had given the message, and then they moved on before anyone in the military noticed they were there.

It was going well, but it was a strain. It wasn't easy to be constantly on the move. Yoki was not the easiest of travel companions either. He wasn't used to a vagabond lifestyle, having spent most of his life in relative luxury. It didn't take long for the other two to become annoyed with him. He wasn't trying to be difficult, but intent didn't matter after weeks of listening to him complain.

The closest the came to getting caught was late in the season, when Yoki was being particularly loud with his whining he made a comment about the unfairness of going from running a village to wearing grease paint. Luckily Jerso noticed a guard looking in their direction, so he quickly silenced Yoki with a huge hand over his mouth and lead him away all while complaining about Yoki's "delusions". Once they were free from watchful eyes, the lecture became quieter and far more threatening. After that Yoki kept his complaints to their camp.

West HQ

Heymans Breda

Heymans did his best to take advantage of the situation he had found himself in. He was well aware of the reason behind the transfer and was not happy with being a hostage, but couldn't openly take any steps or he would place Mustang and the rest of the team in danger.

That was not to say he sat back and did nothing. Instead he made contact with the few people he knew for certain (or as certain one can be in this situation) and began discreetly spreading word of the upcoming uprising planned in Central. He assured everyone he spoke to that should they fail the team would insure the safety of their families and friends.

Most of the one he spoke to didn't believe him. They agreed to come anyway, because as Breda understood it and then passed on, this head of the group would kill them all and then just move on to the next place he could establish a hold and start building up his weapon once again. No one wanted to argue against the military for fear of being labeled a criminal.

Eventually, he had gathered a small group of allies and felt a bit better about the whole thing. Now he contacted Havoc on a secured line and through a series of coded conversations, arranged for Havoc to contact their foreign aide. Ling well Greed, had given Ed a letter to pass onto Izumi requesting her help, if she was close to it all. She agreed to help all she could but she was not now or ever would she join the military. She was still angry and Ed and AL over that one.

He deferred to Jean on the plans. Jean had become an underground hub, running their part of the operation out of his family general store. Heymans wasn't certain if Mustang was in on this part of the plan, though honestly he had learned over the years of working on the Team that it was better to keep to your part and not worry about the rest. He knew everyone including Mustang agreed that knowing everything about the plan was a security risk and was to be avoided. That said he was pretty sure Roy knew the whole thing, or close to the whole thing.

Once everything was in place all that was left to do was wait. Waiting was the hardest part, kept in the dark like this. Heymans worried the others. Especially Kain who was stuck down south and Vato who was stuck in Briggs under Kimblee. He hadn't worried about Vato at all until he learned Kimblee was there.

Unlike Kain, Heymans was in Ishbal. Luckily for him he had been far enough down the chain of command at the time to escape notice from (most) of the state alchemists. He was originally placed in the battalion that Kimblee worked with. He had seen the man in action, and it still gave him nightmares.

Gran and Mustang, who he had later worked under, took to the job with grim determination. They didn't enjoy the slaughter. Kimblee loved it. You could see it in his face and it was terrifying. Rumor had it that in the beginning, when they first arrived, Kimblee had been like other men (boys, really) and disturbed by what they had been asked to do. Something in Kimblee broke after the first few strikes.

Unlike Armstrong, and everyone knew he broke, Kimblee grew to enjoy the work. He treated the enemy as objects instead of people and kept a running tally to see how effective he had become constantly trying to beat his last record of death. So, though Kimblee had started out an innocent, he had long ago become a monster.

That's what bothered Heymans and Jean most about their boss. He called himself a monster, saw himself as a monster, but he regretted everything they had made him do. If he was a monster, so was every other person who donned the uniform. He knew Jean agreed, more than once over the years too much alcohol had loosened their lips to each other.

Unnamed Hamlet

East

Havoc General Store

Jean Havoc

Jean hated being useless like this. He couldn't fight, he couldn't even walk over to the phone. He knew his Mom was happy to have him home, away finally from the military that ate boys and girls and threw back broken men and women. He had never mentioned to his mom that he knew Edward Elric because she had a lot to say on the subject of the young alchemist without finding out that he had been part of Jean's team.

Just now he had been finalizing the plans with Fu and Maria Ross, when his mom cleared her throat behind him. He told them he had to go with a groan and turned his attention to his mother. "Jean. You are out of it. It isn't your problem anymore, why are you letting them pull you back?"

"I can't go back mom. Not like this. That doesn't change what is broken in this country or that I need to help fix it!" Jean said as he moved his wheelchair closer to her. "I don't want to hurt you mom, but Mustang needs my help to make things better, and this is how I can do that. "

"Mustang." She said with distain. "I know all about Mustang. The Hero of Ishbal. He's a cold blooded killer and you expect him to be able to fix this country?'

"He isn't though. I have worked with him since we got back from the war. No one hates that title more than him…expect maybe the Ishbalans. He doesn't consider himself a hero, which is what makes him one. He has spent the last few years working from the inside to change things so that we don't ever have another Ishbal."

"A fine job he's doing of it too, with what's been going on in the North and South." His mother hmmped.

"Well, you know, Xerxes wasn't built in a day." Jean said cheekily.

"It was destroyed in one." His mother quipped back a familiar response in their family.

"We aren't trying to destroy anything mom, we're trying to build it. Build a better future. One where things like a twelve year old prodigy can't slip through the cracks and get into the Program, instead helped in anyway that is rational.' Jean said, addressing (somewhat) one of his mother's chief complaints about his job.

"I'm sure they've done a fine job turning him into a killer by now, even it doesn't make the papers. 'Hero of the People' . Hero of what exactly?"

"Ed is NOT a killer. He is the kindest people I have ever met and he deserved his title from the first step into a dangerous situation and came back with just a minor dent in his arm."

"Dent?" his mom said. "You talk like you know him."

"I do know him, he's been assigned to Mustang's office, so my office, since he joined a few years ago. He is very loud and very rude, but he is the nicest person I have ever met. Jean defended as he rolled back over to the phone. "Now if you'll excuse me-"

"No you don't. Explain to me how a twelve year old managed to get into the military and everyone is okay with it.

"I met Ed back when he was twelve and determined. He had just recovered from double automail surgery. He was and is one of the tiniest people I know, yet he is always looking for a way to help other people. Mustang does everything in his power up to and including taking the jobs himself to keep the worst of it from Ed." Jean said with a smile. "He's an honestly kind person in a world of hate and deceit."

"What is he doing enlisting? Wait, automail? On a twelve year old?" His mom said horrified. Everyone knew how terrible the recovery was, most mechanics wouldn't consider even consulting with someone under sixteen.

"He enlisted to take care of his little brother. They're orphans. As far as the automail goes… he's from Resembool. He was at the train station when it was attacked." Jean said, ignoring his mother's horrified gasp. "He defends Ishbalans whenever it comes up in the cafeteria or on the street. He tells everyone who will listen that people should be judged by their actions not their heritage. This boy who was blown apart during a war, who was orphaned in the war, defends those we declared enemies. Not everyone carrying a watch is a monster. I've seen the monsters, and I've seen the others."

"One example…of a CHILD who is in over his head isn't the whole group Jean." His mother replied, still refusing to see his side of it. "They're weapons. Monsters."

"If they are monsters, Mom. Then so am I." Jean said with a sigh. "I was a sniper in Ishbal. I sat up in a tower picking off the stragglers. It was my orders and I obeyed. Then Roy Mustang came to me and promised me that if I joined him, I would never again have to shoot down innocent children. He kept his promise." Jean was done with the conversation, he turned and rolled out of the store as quickly as he could. He would be back after he had a chance to calm down.

Southern Border

Kain Fuery

Kain had never seen war before. He knew he was lucky, that he was the only member of the team aside from Ed that could say that. It didn't help right now because now, now he was in a war zone. It wasn't an official war zone, but it was one.

He was terrified and was totally willing to admit it. Mustang had shielded him from this for so long… he wished the man was here now, only he didn't because if they called in the alchemists it would be so much worse. Kain knew because Breda and Havoc and Falman had all been there and they all had said it was.

In between the bouts of terror that was slowly becoming normal for the communication specialist he was slowly building the network they needed to end all of this madness on Promised Day. He was grateful to be communications, not just because he was able to help the Team but because he wasn't out there. Instead he sat in a tent listening to the reports roll in and trying not to cry.

Twice since he'd been here the fighting breached the camp. Twice he had to defend their comm center. Twice he'd had to kill. He was glad the Elrics were far from here, he hoped wherever they were it was far from this fight. Let them be free of the stains of war a little longer.

Northern Territory

Marcoh, Scar

They had found another shack, one in even worse condition than the one that contained his brother's notes, and settled into it. It was just one room, with an old fireplace and no furnishings, but the earthen floor was perfect to work out the arrays and notes hidden in his brother's journal.

Marcoh stayed to translate, and to hopefully remove some of the guilt he carried. Scar didn't speak to him. Never spoke at all unless it was to correct part of the translation. Marcoh could feel the man's hate rolling off of him in waves, but so far he had not struck. Sometimes Marcoh wished he would, then he reminded himself that was the easy way out.

A weary sort of peace had fallen over them as the winter progressed. They had decoded the notes in the first couple of weeks, and spent several weeks planning what needed to be done based on what they had learned. They then remade a new code to hide what they had found, and buried the original notes in a lockbox under the floor. It was unlikely either of them would ever return for the journal and notes, but they couldn't bring themselves to destroy them either. For Marcoh because they were the most complex work he'd ever seen and for Scar because they had belonged to his brother.

In the end, roughly three weeks before Promised Day, they abandoned the cabin, not as friends but no longer enemies either. Once they reached the main roads they parted ways, Scar still had much to prepare and Marcoh had to find a way to sneak back into Central undetected.

Fort Briggs

Vato Falman

Following the Dracma attack, which was a slaughter more than anything, Kimblee seemed to loose interest in the Fort he now claimed leadership to. Vato was glad in a way, though annoyed that the other man spent so long poking around Briggs. Vato wasn't the only one either, most of the men were grumbling about the man's arrogance.

Kimblee was keeping an eye out for the Elrics and their allies, and Vato knew it, but luckily the people in question had all left the area, Vato assumed. He wouldn't consider the other option mostly because Kimblee would have let the matter go.

Vato had dealt with Bullies before and he knew how to wait them out which was his current plan with Kimblee. Briggs men, as it turned out, were on their side, whatever it was that Ed said to the General. Still, he was in the air on if to trust these men with the plan.

Buccaneer appeared in his room one night, shortly after the battle, waiting until Kimblee should be asleep. He let Vato know that Olivier was on board with their plans and that she expected a full list of whoever left the fort and who was willing to assist in the continued protection of their country. Vato and Buccaneer spent the next few weeks arranging everything, including slowly funneling a fourth of the personnel in the Fort down to meet Olivier for further instructions. Soon enough, it was time for the final three to leave, Vato, Buccaneer, and Miles were the last to go, but they reminded the other men staying behind that as far as paperwork went they were on sick leave.

Central City

Olivier Armstrong

Olivier Mira Armstrong was now the head of the Armstrong family. Not by birthright, no that belonged first to her eldest siter and later to her younger brother. Not by desire, she would much prefer to have remained in the North and left her family to their own devices. No, it was by necessity that she had challenged her brother, Alex, for the family seat and won.

Olivier needed the family home for the plan, and she needed her youngest sister safely out of the way. Catherine took after Alex in personality. She had no stomach for violence and war, and would simply be a hindrance in the upcoming fight. Had she been able, Olivier would have sent Alex away as well before he brought more dishonor to their name.

All five Armstrong children were raised to believe it was their duty to serve the country. The eldest two had done so by marrying high ranking officials and keeping their homes in order for them. Olivier and Alex had served directly by joining the military. Catherine was still young, but it was expected that she would marry well, as she was delicate in stature and disposition.

Olivier, if asked, would freely admit to being disappointed in her siblings, especially Alex. His failure in Ishbal was a disgrace. He had simply quit. They were raised better than that. Mustang, for all that he annoyed her, would fit better into the Family. He too had been appalled by Ishbal. SO was she. He did something about it. He began planning ways to improve the world and continued to honor the military with his service. Alex only remained enlisted because he would be disowned should he quit.

It was these reasons that Olivier decided to list Mustang as the next of kin to receive the family holdings. As much as she hated him, and she did, he would not lead the family line to Ruin. She even briefly considered attempting a match between Mustang and Catherine. It was her understanding however that Mustang had already been claimed by Grumman's granddaughter though unofficially, and they were waiting for him to sufficiently climb in rank. Grumman was as respected as Armstrong in the old guard, and Olivier respected this when General Grumman explained it to her recently.

This left her with the option of simply willing everything to Mustang. He wouldn't do anything as underhanded as have them killed to claim the Holdings. He could be trusted to mind Catherine until the girl finally found a suitable match, and he could keep Alex from anymore embarrassing meltdowns so he was the best choice. She loathed to admit.

The worst part was telling him it had been done. He was as smarmy about the whole thing as she expected he would be, but then he let his mask slip just for a moment as he promised to care for her younger sister. Olivier damned herself for believing him, but believe him she did.

They had arranged the receiving of both arms and troops into the mansion under cover of dark over the weeks between her transfer and the Promised Day, so that they would all be armed and ready when trouble came. Everything was in place. She was ready, she had cast her lot in with Grumman and Mustang on the word of a child. She really hoped she had made the right call, or this could be what brought their family to ruin rather than something her brother did.


	9. Road Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ed was also feeling guilty and worried about Yuery's development. He was going to have to find a better plan than dragging his son through the wilds with him. What was he thinking, bringing a baby out here

Road Home

Greeling's Party

1:00 am

They had left the cabin the morning before and were currently walking through the foothills that would eventually lead them to Risembool. Originally they had considered looking for another cabin, or walking through the night, but had finally decided to make camp in a cave when the baby was tired of traveling for now.

No matter how many times one of the other men offered to carry the child, Ed insisted he was fine. He was clearly not fine, and if there had been any doubt the fact that Greeling had offered to carry the child, and for a whole hour Ed had allowed it before taking the baby back had assured them that something was off.

Ed was still in a lot of pain and carrying the child was not helping. He needed to be healed before the battle started and as such had resumed his exercises three days ago. They had roughly two weeks to finish getting everything in place, and Ed needed to get Yuery somewhere safe. He was not stupid, there was no way he was taking his child into battle. With his allies scattered, his only real option was Granny.

Granny would still be home, she always was. She said herself she waited for them when they needed a place to be. It would take them at least another week to arrive at their current pace, possibly a week and a half. That left Ed enough time to talk her into watching his son, switch out his automail, and get back to Central to try to save the world. It sounded a lot easier than it felt.

Soon, for better or for worse, this would all be over. He needed to survive this so he could go back to raising his son in peace. All he had ever wanted was his family to be safe and happy. It had been his goal his entire life, as far back as he could remember. He learned Alchemy to please his mother. He perfected it to bring her back. He'd joined the State Alchemy program to cure his brother. And now. Now he was throwing everything away to save them all.

The worst part of it was he felt he deserved every single bad thing that happened to him. He'd told Ling so often enough. Ling was running a commentary on the subject right now, much to Greed's annoyance. He was well aware of Ed's issues. He'd heard the kid's nightmares often enough. The kid's kid had issues too. Greed knew damn well it had been the baby causing all that trouble in the cabin, and on the road, though Ed refused to believe it.

Cave in the hills

7:00 am

Ed knew he had slept in before opening his eyes. The lighting in the cave set the time around seven, and Yuery rarely let him sleep passed six at the latest lately. It was then that it registered that Yuery wasn't laying next to him anymore and he tensed before realizing that why he hadn't panicked when waking was that he could hear his son happily babbling within arms reach.

He cracked his eyes to see what the baby was up to this time to the shocking sight of Greeling smiling as he shared a bowl of what looked like oatmeal with the baby. Ed watched as Greeling took a bite, then fed one to Yuery, who was sitting against Greeling's leg. It didn't make sense to Ed. Ling was too obsessed with food to ever share, and Greed was, well, Greed. Of course Ed frequently ate like this, every meal now that they were on the road, but no one else was expected to do so. For it to be the most selfish members of their party was just surprising.

He watched silently for another minute before fully opening his eyes as he said. "You could have woken me, there was no need to entertain him."

"Sure there was. You need to finish recovering, a minion who isn't one hundred percent is of no use to me." Greeling dismissed as he gave the baby another bite.

"Still. You didn't have to feed him. That was nice of you, thanks."

"Don't worry about it. I hate oatmeal as it is, then we have been eating it nonstop for weeks. The kid is just helping me get rid of it, he'll make a good minion yet." Greeling said trying to brush off Ed's thanks. "Besides, can't have the kid getting pissed and magicking the cave down around our ears."

"… How do you know its magic?" Ed asked which was a change, he usually denied it was the kid at all.

" Of course it's magic. You can't do accidental alchemy. Plus there's that whole soul thing Ling mentioned to me. Armestris used to have magic all over the place before Father decided it would interfere with his plans and had them all rounded up. That order is still active actually. If a magic user presents around here they are taken into custody and their family instructed that the child is to be listed as dead."

"I didn't know there were magic users here at all."

"Well, very few do actually. Between them being kept hush hush by the military and whatever it is the Father did to shield us from the wizards when Wrath came into office that's when I moved down south actually. Wrath being in office just didn't appeal to me."

"Great. So just another thing to worry about." Ed said with a sigh.

"Well the kid is full, time to get going." Greeling said. "Ten minutes and we move out."

Ed groaned but started packing up quickly before grabbing some jerky. He started munching as he tied his son to him and shouldered his pack. He then shook the other two awake and let them know that they were about to leave.

The chimera groaned like Ed had, but were on their feet at the mouth of the cave by the time Greeling had put out the campfire. His earlier kindness hidden behind his usual contempt. "Come on you idiots. We have places to be. I swear you are the worst bunch of minions I've ever dealt with."

"Get over yourself, you idiot." Ed said around a mouthful of jerky.

"They're gonna argue all day again." Heinkel grumbled to Darius.

"How is that new?" Darius replied as he led the way out of the cave, ignoring the teenagers.

Yuery was unhappy with being carried. He had been carried all day for the last week and a half, and wanted to walk. He made this desire known by repeatedly hitting his father in the chest and demanding "No,Down". Ed chose to ignore the boy, since there was no way to reassure him.

They were ten minutes out from the cave when Yuery started throwing himself back and forth, yelling loudly. Ed groaned as the chimera sighed and Greeling rolled his eyes. At this rate they weren't going to make it out of the woods by Promised Day.

"Here. Let me carry the kid. He's making you slow." Greeling said as he reached out for the baby. Yuery glared in his direction and continued to throw himself around. Ed sighed as he lifted the boy out of his carrier and then lifted the carrier over his head. Greeling quickly attached the carrier before placing the still angry child inside. "There we go, now even if he decided to start kicking, no problems. Plus without the burden maybe you can keep up."

"Wha- I keep up!" Ed growled. He sped up to take the lead, not wanting to talk to Greeling anymore. Darius and Heinkel rolled their eyes but followed after him, with Greeling straggling behind as he pointed out the squirrels and flowers around them.

This managed to keep Yuery occupied for close to half an hour before he grew bored again and started throwing himself around. Greeling, like his father, ignored the boy's antics even when he started saying "Gee Down NO NO NO NO GEE NO." Which Greeling found very annoying, both parts of him.

Sometimes, when he offered to take the kid, Greed would give Ling the lead. Ling seemed to really like the kid, and the kid seem to like Ling better than Greed, which he was fine with since Kids weren't on his list of things to do when he took over the world. Ling was not in the lead at the moment though, not wanting to deal with the angry toddler either. Ed had just turned back toward them, to see if he needed to take the baby back, when a loud crack was heard overhead as a branch fell into the path, only missing Ed because Darius pulled him out of the way at the last minute.

"What. The. Hell." Ed said as he pushed at the bigger man who had landed on top of him. Darius groaned, the branch had hit him on its way down and lashed his shoulder, but better his shoulder than the kid's head. Yuery was giggling and clapping. Heinkel came over to help haul Darius off of Ed, and Greeling was staring thoughtfully at the branch.

The break was clean, as if it had been cut. Either someone was out here with them, or the kid had done it again. Now Greed and Ling were in agreement the kid couldn't actually control it, but these incidents were growing more common, and more dangerous. They needed to get Edward to admit it was his kid… and then figure out a way to get him to stop. Edward seemed more open to the possibility this morning. Ling was pondering if the kid had gotten it from his mother (which was the most common way of having magic in Xing) or if he'd developed it randomly. Either way, he was almost certain Edward himself didn't have any magic in him. Maybe. Possibly. Or he was good at hiding it. But if was good at hiding it, then wouldn't he know it was the kid and have a way to stop him? No it likely came from the mother.

After they had patched up Darius and Ed could breathe properly again, they started back up the trail. Yuery had finally cried himself into a nap, which they were all grateful for, though Ed was also feeling guilty and worried about Yuery's development. He was going to have to find a better plan than dragging his son through the wilds with him. What was he thinking, bringing a baby out here?

He pulled out the map, and recalculated where they were exactly, before announcing to the others "If we take this logging road, about ten minutes ahead of us, down the river, we can shave about three days off the trip. If we manage to cage a ride on the back of a shipment we could be in Resembool by tomorrow."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Darius said, with Heinkel nodding. They then all turned to Greeling. Everyone knew that Ed only said these things as if they were suggestions to keep Greed happy, but it really had been an order. Greed, in turn, always pretended to consider it before agreeing. The chimera didn't want to know what would happen should Greed decide to say no one of these times. Hopefully this part of their ordeal would be over soon.

Eastbound Cargo Train

Between Izumi and Al's contacts, they had arranged this trip to get them back into Resembool. For Al the best part was that once they reached Resembool they then went through East City then right into Central. It had been perfect. He would leave Winry at home then ride his way into the battle. They had roughly five or six days left, Al had lost track which.

What he had failed to mention to anyone, because he didn't see what help worrying would be, was that he was fading. It started up in North City, but it was becoming more frequent the longer they traveled. Perhaps it was his armor rejecting his soul, or Ed was in serious danger, or they had been apart too long. No matter what it was though, he had to help save their friends before he faded away completely.

He was strangely calm about the whole thing. It had been months now since the first time it happened, and he had come to terms with his inevitable end. He worried a bit about how Ed would handle it, how WInry would handle it, their dad… but overall he had come to accept it was nearly over for him. Just as long as the others were alright then he was happy. For now though, he needed to pretend everything was fine. He explained to WInry as they settled down for the long ride, that he would be riding on and she would not. She started to protest, until Al said. "When it comes down to it, this is going to be an alchemic battle Winry. You would just be a distraction like that time with Scar." He knew it was mean to manipulate her like that, but it was far more important to keep her safe, than to keep her happy.

She almost cried, before stopping herself. She'd promised not to cry, so she wouldn't. She was angry though. Why did these things always happen to them. She didn't want to watch more people walk away who were never coming back. She wasn't stupid, she knew chances were not in their favor of a safe return. She was once again about to lose people she loved and was helpless to help them. If only she knew for sure Ed was going to be there. If there was one thing the last few years had taught her, it was that Ed always seemed to pull off the impossible.

Al seemed to know this was her train of thought because he assured her that Ed was going to show back up. His brother would be fine, he had been in contact with their people after the mine. So even if he was still listed as missing, someone knew where he was. Al just wasn't the one who knew where. It was strange being out of contact with Ed, but he was trying to stay positive. They couldn't very well be seen together after all.

It didn't matter. The plan was set. Izumi and Sig were making there way to Central now. Al would soon be joining them. Scar, Yoki, and the chimeras were to also meet him there. Dad and his team were prepared to move. Hohenheim had a plan too. Al had faith that his brother also had a plan.

Central City HQ

Colonel Mustang's Office

3:00 pm

Everything was set now. It wouldn't be long before the plan was set in motion, tonight he was to meet one last time with his contacts at his mother's then he would disappear until Promised Day would begin. He had already made sure that there was nothing in his house that could be used to figure out what they were planning. He also had stashed an overnight bag away in a safehouse that hadn't been used since he was a child, outside the city limits.

Over the last few weeks he had discretely tested the limits of Pride's reach. He had selected the safehouse farthest out but still within reasonable distance from the city. It was still a calculated risk. He was intending to make it look like he may have died tonight. Hawkeye, who was in the greatest danger, was to disappear at the same time and meet him there. He couldn't risk them deciding to take it out on her when he was gone. Everyone else on his team would make their way to the warehouse district just outside of reach in the next couple of days. They were scheduled to meet one last time the night before Promised Day to go over the plan.

He was relieved it was almost over. He would either be reunited with his sons or dead by the end of the week. He missed them terribly, and hoped he'd at least get to see them one last time. His new team seemed to notice his distraction, which was not good. He couldn't afford to tip his hand at this point. He lifted the phone to call 'Alison' and arrange their 'date' the day after tomorrow. By the time he was done, his team was back to cringingly ignoring him and General Armstrong was plotting his slow death. She may have agreed to using this form of code but that didn't mean she wouldn't find a way to torture him for it later.

Shortly after finishing his phone call, Roy looked at the clock which was one minute short of four, an hour and a half before work officially ended, and began packing up his desk. He wouldn't be receiving a reprimand for leaving early. After today, they would have so much more to hang him with than cutting out with work undone.

His assistant, who he still didn't bother to know, looked like he wanted to protest Roy's early departure, but in the end simply rolled his eyes and left it at that. After all, Hawkeye was the only one who had ever been able to control him. Mustang had signed a grand total of two papers today. He had burned six. And the rest just sat on the corner of his desk mocking the normally orderly assistant.

Mustang-Elric Residence

4:15pm

He walked calmly through the rooms, unsure if he would ever see them again. Even if everything went well, it was entirely possible that his house would be destroyed, or at least the contents removed. Over the last few weeks he had secured certain items, such as photo albums or rare books, and following Ed's lead, mailed them to Resembool. He had then spread out the remaining books and photos to make it impossible to see that some were missing. Unless of course it was someone who lived here, or frequently visited.

He had no way of removing the boys things, without drawing attention to himself at least, so instead he had made a list of everything that may need to be replaced. He was currently standing in the center of Ed and Yu's room, staring at the thin layer of dust that had managed to collect as if they had been gone years. He reached into the crib to extract the stuffed rabbit that had slept with Yuery since he moved to his own bed. It was already looking lumpy and threadbare as stuffed animals do, and smelled exactly like his grandson.

Admonishing himself as a sentimental fool, Roy carefully wrapped the rabbit in one of Yuery's blankets and stuffed it into the bottom of his case. He then went downstairs to collect anything else he might have forgotten, which was turned into a single photograph, taken by Hughes months ago, of himself, Yuery, and Ed napping on the floor. Unfortunately, Al had not been present for this photo but it was still one of his favorites.

Vanessa had taken Franklin the Great and Cobalt earlier when she moved out in a very showy 'break up' for the benefit of the neighbors. She had also taken a large collection of incriminating paperwork he had collected on other members of the military over the years to be kept safe. This had been something he had been unwilling to ship, even if on a personal level the photos and books had been more important. These papers were for the future of his country.

One last glance around, and Roy left the house with his briefcase in hand, walking slowly to his mother's bar to ensure his escorts would stay on him this time. This time it was crucial that they watched, so that they could confirm he died. They would blame him for the bar's destruction. He had made sure to leave just enough evidence to point to a suicide, but vague enough that should by some miracle they all survive, he couldn't be charged.

Safe House

11:00pm

Roy had doubled back several times, to ensure no one had followed him, before finally making his way to the location. No one else was to be there. Aside from his mother, no one alive knew that it was here at all. His mother should be well on her way to Creta by now, and Hughes was gone beyond a place anyone could contact him.

The house was dark, as it should be, and pushed back all the way to the tree line on three sides. The tinted windows, which were not noticeable unless someone was very close, at which point he had other problems. There were unseen alchemic traps set at every point of entry, so all he had to do was activate them to keep him safe.

Once he was inside with the doors locked and sealed he was able to relax slightly. He walked through the small building to ensure it was still secured, which took less than five minutes as it only contained three rooms. Front room that served as both the living room and the kitchen, a small bedroom, and a tiny bathroom. There were no closets, and the bed was designed as a solid piece of wood with a mattress laid on top, so nowhere for someone to hide. As soon as everything was done, Roy kicked off his shoes and laid on the couch fully intending to get up and change properly for bed. He was asleep almost before his head met the pillow.


	10. These Final Hours

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He then stretched out the piece of fabric he had bought and turned it into his signature coat which he shrugged into while saying. "I know we may all die today and that I'm supposed to be hiding, but I'm going to finish this the way I started."

These Final Hours

Rockbelle Aumtomail Outfitter

5:00 am

Edward tiredly led the way up onto the porch followed closely by Darius, Heinkel, and Greeling. They had decided to arrive under the cover of darkness to avoid being spotted, especially as the annual sheep festival was beginning. The town was crawling with military. It was the least likely place someone who was AWOL would dare to appear, so of course they would be watching the station and roads for Edward and Alphonse.

Ed didn't look much like himself with his hair down in a brown coat and white shirt. Adding to arriving across fields instead of down the road in the middle of the night they should avoid being noticed. He would remain on guard regardless. Granny was waiting for them in the front hall, a shotgun at her hip. Once she saw Ed she set the gun down to greet the boy.

He put up a tired hand and said. "What was the last thing you said to me?"

"…Hohenheim knows he made mistakes, try to give him a chance." Granny said with a huff of understanding. "How did you make Winry cry on her fifth birthday?"

"I made her a doll. But ask another, there are people who know that story."

"… What's Yuery's mother's name?"

Ed sighed and glanced over his shoulder. So much for that secret. " Either Alice or Lilly. I never knew which one it was."

"Okay. Welcome home shrimp." Granny said with a relieved smile.

"Oh don't you start that you dried up old bat! I'll have you know I'm taller than WInry now!" Ed said red faced with anger.

"Sure sure. She's not here to measure, though is she? I guess will just have to see for ourselves." Granny said. "Get your friends settled then come on through to the patient room and we'll see what were looking at."

"I don't have time for a refitting Granny." Ed protested. "I just need to be switched out with the pair Winry said she was sending ahead from Rush Valley. I have to leave by tomorrow afternoon."

"Always in such a rush." Granny dismissed with a waive. "Come find me after you've settled."

Ed huffed before leading the others to the empty beds in the spare room. He didn't like the way they were smirking at him, but he felt he was probably going to be able to salvage the Yuery situation at the price of his dignity… well he kinda threw dignity out the window back when his pseudo grandmother was changing his bedpans so there was no point in fighting for it now. He huffed and rolled his eyes at them before shutting the door in their faces. It was too late in the night to hope they'd go to sleep, but hopefully they'd give him a bit of peace.

He then settled Yuery to finish sleeping in his old room and went in search of Pinako. She was in the kitchen rather than the patient room when he found her, busying herself at throwing together breakfast for her houseguests.

"You have received several boxes over the last couple of weeks. All from Colonel Mustang out in Central." Pinako said without turning around. "Normally I just put them in the storeroom and leave it with that, but you kids have me so wound up I opened them half expecting something terrible inside."

"What was in them?" Ed asked with curiosity.

"Photo Albums. Books. Trinkets." Pinako said with a shrug.

"He's preparing for the worst then. Good. I'm glad he's taking this seriously." Ed said with a frown. "Where's my arm and leg? I need time to recover before I try to walk around with them."

"I need to do some measurements. Don't worry, WInry said you were in the middle of a growth spurt when she left Central, so she made a few with that in mind. We just need to pick the right one."

"Okay. Let's get that over with." Ed said with a sigh.

"You need to eat Ed. I doubt you've had a decent meal recently and if you plan on running off to do something foolish you'll need your strength." Pinako said with a frown. "Are the others hungry yet?"

"The idiot prince is always hungry. I don't know about the others but probably. Yuery should be up soon too."

"Go get your friends. We'll eat and I'll measure you. Then we'll put on the automail this afternoon." Pinako said "I have to be seen sometime this morning in town or people will wonder what's going on out here. I'll go shortly after breakfast when the trains are running, then be back in plenty of time to refit you. The hard part is already done."

"The hard part for you maybe."

Safehouse

7:00am

According to the morning paper Roy had snatched off of a neighboring porch the bar had been an accident caused by a gas leak with no mention of him anywhere inside it. On one hand he was glad the boys wouldn't wake up to the false rumors of his death, on the other hand that meant they hadn't fallen for his plan.

He would just have to be extra careful. It wasn't like there was a lot of time left to try to hide away at this point, though Breda would be holding this location and administering first aide should anyone need it during the battle.

He was worried about sneaking back into the city to meet at the warehouse only because he had no idea how hard they were looking for him. He couldn't afford to get caught. The team was coming from all over the country to meet him. For now there was nothing more he could do but wait. Riza had never arrived, he hoped she had gone to another safehouse, but there would be no way to know until the meeting.

He did his best to relax, not an easy task this close to a battle. He read through his notes again, then made himself a light meal before sneaking back out to return the morning paper and swipe the afternoon edition. It was safe enough, the build up of papers on the porch and mail sticking out of the box suggested no one had been home for at least a week if not two.

The afternoon paper announced his disappearance and possible death siting his frequent visits to the bar that had been destroyed the night before and his absence at headquarters this morning, along with his empty house. There were accompanying photographs of the inside of his house. Not one or two either, as he turned the page, every room of his house had been invaded.

They had made sure to take a very close photo of Yuery's crib along with a caption asking the whereabouts of his grandson. The article below outlined Edward's disappearance and speculated that Mustang had somehow caused the boys' disappearance. Roy was enraged.

How dare they suggest he would harm his children? These same monsters that were hunting his boys for at least a year?! These monsters that had dismantled his entire life?! These monsters who intended to kill everyone in the country!

He took a deep breath and threw the crumpled paper into the fireplace. He couldn't let them bait him, because that is what they were doing. They were hoping to draw out either him or Edward and he couldn't give in to them. Luckily as far as he knew both of his boys were far away from Central so they shouldn't see this story until it was all over.

By then, the papers would have something new to talk about and he could pretend it never happened. This might complicate some of his plans but would not derail it. He would stop these monsters, save his country, become it's leader and protect his children. There were no other options to him. He decided the best course of action right now was to try to take a nap. It was going to be a long night, followed by a longer day.

Rockbelle Automail Outfitters

Early Afternoon

Edward was done with his teammates. He was not used to being constantly surrounded as it was, and now they were bickering like toddlers over the chore list and Ed walked away. He grabbed his lunch and headed up to his room to eat. Then he remembered that his restless, cranky son had finally fallen asleep not ten minutes ago so he turned off into Winry's room instead and set his plate and glass on the desk. She wasn't here to complain about him possibly getting crumbs on her floor, and he could eat in peace.

He was shocked when Winry just casually walked into the room like she hadn't been missing for months. Then she started to change and he realized she hadn't seen him. Probably exhaustion. He tried to speak but it came out as more of a strangled yelp. It was just enough to draw her attention, but she screamed.

Within moments the room was full of people, and shortly after it was cleared again before she demanded to know why he was in her room. He explained that he just wanted a few minutes to eat in peace. A few minutes of stifled conversation later had the subject dropped when she told him to go ahead and finish eating while she went to grab a shower. She mentioned AL was on the train, but Ed resisted the impulse to go to his brother. One more day, and he could cling to his brother as long as he needed it.

A little while later Winry came back in carrying his automail replacements. Ed laid down on her bed after spreading a drop cloth to keep any oil from staining it. It wasn't easy for Ed, but it had to be done as fast as possible. Once his automail was replaced he needed to talk to her, and he already knew it wasn't going to be a pleasant conversation.

He managed to suppress the urge to scream as usual, managing to keep all but a brief groan held in. WInry would often wish that Ed didn't feel the need to be strong all the time, but currently it was a comfort. She noticed the new scar on his torso, but decided against asking about it. He wouldn't give her an answer anyway, he never did.

He pulled on his undershirt painfully before shrugging on a button up shirt. Winry started cleaning up the mess created by switching out his limbs, and Ed watched for a minute before clearing his throat. "Win. Promised Day is coming."

"I know. Where do you think Al went?" Winry said with a frown. She knew where this was headed and there was no way he was going to talk her into leaving the country! That would be like admitting he was going to lose and he wasn't. He couldn't.

"I. I know you aren't going to like this Win. I have no one else I trust with this. I need you to leave, and I need you to take Yuery with you." Ed said even as Winry's face turned red with rage.

"I am not going anywhere Edward Elric because I know I KNOW you are going to save us all!" Winry said, Ed cringed momentarily when her eyes looked glassy, before frowning himself.

"What if I can't? What if I don't? Stop being so damn stubborn and listen for a change. How am I supposed to concentrate when all I can think about is if my son is going to die?! I never ask you for anything Win, but I'm begging you. No matter how this turns out I need to know my son will be okay…and if…if I don't make it, I need you to take him, love him, be his mom. Please Winry."

"…Okay. But when this is over and you've won I'm bringing him to Central to place him in your arms, because I'll be his mom but he needs his dad!" Winry said stubbornly as she moved toward the door. "You have a week Ed, and then I'm meeting you there no matter what."

Ed shook his head in response glad that he had finally managed to win an argument. Lately it seemed like that was something that never happened between traveling with Greeling and two people who could and would literally pick him up and move him where they wanted him to be it had been awhile since he's properly won any sort of argument.

Greeling was waiting for him on the landing with Yuery on his hip and a smirk on his face. "Not very good at controlling her temper are you?"

"I don't want or need to control her. I just need her to listen to reason, and to be safe." Ed grumbled before taking his son. "If you think women are that easy to control your insane anyway. Some of the fiercest people I know are women."

"No offense intended." Greeling said raising his hands in surrender.

"You know if you let Ling out more often you might learn a thing or two. At least he knows how to respect people." Ed said as he walked down the stairs in search of Winry.

Pinako had arrived back from town while they were upstairs, and she insisted everyone needed to eat before they set out back toward Central. Ed made sure to inform her that Winry would be taking Yuery across the border, so she should leave right after lunch as well.

He completely ignored the way Winry glared, though it let him know she had in fact been considering staying here at home no matter what she had promised. Granny would make sure she kept her word though, so he had nothing to worry about. He really should mention the magic thing, but how to pull her aside again? It really was getting late and they needed to get going to be sure to get where they needed to be in time to do some good.

Luckily, he found a moment when Pinako insisted that Winry and Ed clear the table, and they found themselves in the kitchen alone. Ed sighed and asked she stay for a minute before he turned on the water so that no one would overhear them as long as he spoke quietly.

"About Yuery." Ed started with a smile, and waited for WInry to look at him directly. "Okay don't get mad I kinda just figured this out myself this week. Yuery is displaying early signs of magic. It seems to happen when he's angry, so try to keep him calm and I'll work with him when this is over."

"I always heard magic wasn't possible in Armestris?"

"Yeah, they told us growing up it wasn't real at all though. Apparently it's illegal here. Like they'll take him away and no one knows where, and there's some kind of thing blocking magic users from sensing magic inside the borders."

"Is it a good idea to take him out of the borders then?" Winry asked as Ed frowned at her.

"Just keep him calm and he'll be fine. I traveled for three days with him unprotected and it was fine. Worst case just grab him and run because it's not safe to be here right now. Don't make this a fight again."

"Ed-"

"Winry, I need to be able to trust you will always choose him. If you really want to be his mom, he has to be number one to you." Ed said sadly.

Winry nodded, all other protests taken from her. She understood what he wasn't saying. They had gone on one, sort of half date, but they had been dancing around each other for months. However, if they wanted a chance to work out then he had to trust her with his child. If she didn't do this, no matter what happened, Ed would not forgive her. He hadn't said that. He may not have even thought it, but she knew it was true.

She knew it to be true, because if someone had put this child in danger when they could have prevented it instead she would never forgive them. Ed had to be worse because, his offer notwithstanding, this was HIS baby. His son. The child he had spent the last year loving and raising and worrying over and changing for.

The conversation was closed then as Ed and Greeling followed the chimeras out the front door, leaving all of their gear behind aside from weapons. They were planning to sneak into the cargo hold of the train and jump off before it reached Central, borrowing a car to make it the rest of the way. As long as everything went according to plan they would reach Central about four hours before sunrise.

Warehouse District

11:45pm

Roy had carefully circumvented the city as he made his way to the meeting. No one knew for sure where he had gone, or if he was alive, and he was not going to tip his hand early. He just had to make it to morning, everything was set.

Inside the warehouse was Falman, Breda,Fuery, and Hawkeye. He took a moment to scratch Hayate as he came over to the others. The looks of relief of Fuery and Falman's faces were enough to know word had gotten to them about the explosion but not his safety. He hated worrying his men, but this was good in that he still had the upper hand.

Hawkeye had known he was fine, had been aware of the plan. She confirmed had he been caught up in the blast the plan would have moved forward without him. She made no mention of where she had gone, and he chose not to ask. He smirked at his men, then made sure everyone knew where they were meant to be by morning. Once they all agreed, he told them all his only command was to 'not die'. Hawkeye followed him back out of the building to a car she had brought along.

"Last I heard, Alphonse will be here sometime tonight but we won't see him until tomorrow." Hawkeye said.

"Edward will be here just before dawn." Roy said in response.

"Sir. You can't die either." Hawkeye said calmly.

"I'll do my best lieutenant." Roy said crossing his arms. "Is my house still standing?"

"Technically. I fear you may need to search for a new property."

"I suspected as much. Everything irreplaceable was removed weeks ago. I missed my son's birthday."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"He turned sixteen. Sixteen and all alone in the woods, injured and running for his life, his only help enemies just weeks before. I adopted those boys and failed them straight away."

"Don't start down that road sir. Tonight we need to worry about saving everyone…we'll be sure to throw him a huge birthday party at the end of the week."

"Thank you."

Silence descended on the pair as they drove toward the Armstrong estate. The Bradley's had a weekend house a few miles passed the city, but the only one who ever used it was Mrs. Bradley. She would be out here now as her husband and son were supposed to be out East.

The plan was to snatch Mrs. Bradley and drag her to the radio station where they could keep her safe and at the same time convince her that they were on her side.

Late last afternoon, the bridge collapsed dragging the train containing Bradley and his young son into the river below. This had not yet been reported to the news, which worked to Roy's advantage. He had his doubts as to if Selim had actually been aboard, and Bradley himself would have been unharmed but would hopefully not make it back here anytime soon.

Roy's plan was complex. He was going to attack the country's leadership while making himself appear to be attempting to protect it. He was confident that he could pull it off. Mrs Bradley seemed completely in the dark about her husband and son, they hoped to avoid having to traumatize the woman at least one of them was bound to survive.

Slums outside of Central

2:00am

Ed saw Hohenheim and gave into impulse, which to be fair he was getting better about. Mostly. Sometimes. In any case he punched the man as hard as he could. Luckily, the man healed quick because Ed did need to talk to him and find out what all he had planned… perhaps he should have spoken to him first.

Hohenheim didn't seem to have any hard feelings about the hit, though he did whine that Ed had used his steel hand. Ed generously offered to repeat the punishment with his flesh hand should the man feel so inclined. Afterward, Ed passed on his mother's message and almost felt bad that the man cried.

Eventually they sat down together to cover what was known on both ends. Ed was still not inclined to be friendly, so when Hohenheim asked about the baby Ed scoffed. "I am not so stupid, or selfish as to bring him to a battle. I sent him out of the country, he'll be back in five days."

"Who has him then? You're friend in the military or-?"

"Nah, I'm supposed to meet Dad in a couple of hours to make sure everything's going to go smoothly, unless something comes up. Winry took him away into Aerugo."

"Dad?"

"Yes. Dad. He's my Dad. Not my friend, my father. He's taken care of us for years and he actually loves us." Ed said stubbornly. Hohenheim had known about the adoption but was surprised to hear his eldest use the phrase Dad. He was under the impression the boy hated the word, so it was possible Ed simply hated him.

"Well. I have places to be and detailed to iron out. I'll catch up with you later if you bother to stick around." Ed said snidely before walking away to rejoin the chimera and Greeling. Hohenheim sensed Greed so chose to follow them for a few minutes to insure the boy's safety. Ed noticed him almost immediately. "So you're stalking me now? Why? It's not like you care."

"I have always cared Edward. I love you and your brother very much."

"Yeah well you have a funny of showing it then. Oh, this is Mr. Gorilla, and that's LionKing. And the idiot is Greeling." Ed said pointing to each in turn.

All three men corrected him which made him smirk in a way that made them all suspect he was doing it just to be annoying. He then stretched out the piece of fabric he had bought and turned it into his signature coat which he shrugged into while saying. "I know we may all die today and that I'm supposed to be hiding, but I'm going to finish this the way I started."


	11. Promised Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle to save the world begins

Promised Day

Outskirts of Central

Daybreak (7:00 am)

Ed frowned at the dome that contained his brother and a monster. He knew that it was his brother's idea, and that it was the best option they had but he didn't like it. He didn't have time to dwell on it however. As it was he's missed the meeting time and hoped his Dad wasn't too worried. First and foremost, he was the Flame Alchemist and that was NOT someone you wanted panicking. Ed didn't see any massive fires, so he assumed all was well so far, and he would just have to be sure to arrive at the second meeting point without issue.

Forcibly he turned away from the dome and to the city. It was time to save the world. Lan Fan and Fu had appeared during the fight with Pride because OF COURSE he hadn't been out East (when had things ever been easy) however in the aftermath, Ed noticed that Greeling had slipped away. Ed wasn't worried, this was what was planned once they entered the city so he had just left a bit early. Ed had more important things to worry about. Like the controlled explosion that just erupted on the west side of town. It had begun, he needed to get into place.

Westside of Central

Daybreak (7:00 am)

Roy walked calmly down the street, not betraying any of the nerves he felt over his sons both missing the meeting point. He hoped it had just taken them longer than planned to get into place, rather an a attack that could leave them injured or worse.

The fighting had begun but his attention was divided between the fight at hand, what he arranged at the radio station, and if his children would live through this. He wasn't going to waste energy trying to find them. Either they were at the second meeting spot or he would see them after all of this was over.

He had instructed his fighter to avoiding shooting, to never shoot first, and to use no fatal shots, and to act as innocently as one could while corralling the civilians as calmly as possible far away from the command center.

Mrs. Bradley was still more than a little shocked that her husband's supporters would order her death rather than her rescue, but Roy had that handled as well. She was now a willing hostage, believing Roy that he had snatched her to save her and was currently busy telling the city just that. Everything was going according to plan. He hoped it was the same everywhere as he slipped away with Hawkeye to meet up with his sons.

Chamber under Laboratory Three

8:45am

Edward refused to say it out loud, but they were screwed. A legion of mindless monsters were surrounding them, and they were not inclined to die no matter how many times they were hit. This was Raven's army of immortals he had mentioned to Armstrong. They had to keep them from escaping into the city. Grimly, Ed sealed the doors and returned his attention to the fight. He had to keep everyone safe as long as possible.

Ed was moving through them as many as possible as quickly as possible and they were still coming. His dad should be here soon, as long as he didn't miss the window too. Either way Ed and his team were fighting as if they were all on their own because until Dad showed up they would be.

Just when Ed was beginning to falter slightly, Mustang and Hawkeye appeared with a large explosion and a smirk. Ed saw that his Dad was about to snap and froze in place. Seconds later the monsters were ash and his team was safe. Ed approached then, and was enveloped in a hug. "I missed you kid." Roy said pulling the boy tight against him.

"Sorry, we ran into a bit of trouble and I missed the first window." Ed said in return hugging Roy just as tight.

"I meant the last few weeks, not just this morning." Roy said with a huff.

"Oh. Yeah." Ed said hating to pull away, but the fight was just beginning. "Al is stuck with Pride, he'll catch up later. Those things, they can't get out into the city.

"It's already covered. We had teams in place to seal all of the labs and they've taken central command. Now let's go find these things trying to control us all."Roy said with a smirk.

Before anything else could be said, Mei, Envy, and some Chimera monsters fell into the room. They were able to take out the monsters quickly, but then Envy admitted to killing Hughes. Roy saw red. Envy mocked and then ran. Roy followed ignoring both Hawkeye and Ed.

Hawkeye sighed and ordered Ed to stay put as she rushed after Roy, but Ed followed behind reminding her that he outranked her. Hawkeye nodded once, before telling the boy to stick next to her then. The rest of the team trailed behind, then split up to go both directions at once.

Ed and Hawkeye followed the echoed footsteps and distance screaming from Envy, before finding Roy burning the creature over and over a manic look on his face. Ed slipped around behind them and scooped up Envy who seemed stuck in a tiny slug like form. Roy frowned, sparks still shooting off his gloves.

Hawkeye pointed a gun calmly at the back of his head and Edward held the creature in his hands. Roy had no choices but to stop. Seeing his child in front of him, vulnerable and exposed to his flames was not something Roy could stomach. Added to it was Riza demanding he stand down, threatening to kill herself after killing him.

Once Envy was gone, apparent suicide, Roy hugged both Riza and Ed and apologized for loosing his head. They assured him he was okay and that if he had they would have taken care of him. He was still hating himself for threatening his son even as they walked closer to the heart of the den.

Armestris Border

10:00 am.

Winry was frustrated enough to scream. She had managed to get on the train early enough that she should be well out of the country. Yet she was still sitting in what amounted to train gridlock. Yuery was as unhappy as she was, only he was willing to voice his complaints, adding to the groans from the car she was in.

Winry stood and went in search of an attendant to ask what was going on. As soon as she started walking Yuery calmed down, which at least fixed one problem. Well two if she counted the tiny ripples she could see in the window glass. She probably wouldn't have noticed the glass if Ed hadn't warned her to keep safe.

She found the conductor himself in the next car up. He was harried looking and she hated to add to his stress but she also needed to keep her promise to Ed. The man frowned before she could say anything, and said with a sigh. "I'm sorry ma'am I can't tell you how long it will be, they aren't saying. It appears they may be closing the border."

"What are we going to do then, just wait it out?" WInry asked as she gently juggled the baby on her hip.

"We are all be redirected, we just have to wait until our track is ready. Then we'll be redirected to Ishval outpost C."

"I see." WInry said, ignoring the sinking feeling in her stomach. Even if she walked fast the outpost was a three hour walk to the border. She wasn't going to make it out of the country in time. Perhaps if she got off the train now, and walked straight south, she might make it. It was about a two hour walk from here.

Without another word, Winry returned to her seat. She mentally went through her luggage to decide what had to come with her should they deboard. Yuery's diaper bag for sure, and her overnight bag, which contained their passage paperwork and a change of clothes for her, as well as some snacks to keep Yuery occupied and the baby sling. Her suitcase contained books and tools which was far too heavy to try to carry though she hated to leave it behind. She made sure to clearly label it with her return address if lost though, so it would be okay.

She reached up and took down her overnight bag to dig out the baby sling. She knew she would need both hands open to climb down off the train, and they were going to have to be fast about it. She put the sling on, then placed the baby in it, before shouldering the two bags she decided they had to have, leaving three others behind. With a nod and a muttered comment about needing to change to her seatmates she wandered off in the direction of the bathroom. Once there though she kept going instead she was in the space between cars. She thought about climbing down now but was worried about getting caught up in the train wheels.

When she got to the dining car she decided to go ahead and buy a couple bottles of milk and some snacks like apples in case Yuery got hungry. She told the waiter she would prefer not to try to cross cars when it was moving so it seemed a good time to get her child something to eat. He agreed and threw in some ham and cheese as well in a paper bag for her and wished her luck.

Winry then made her way back to the last carriage. The caboose was locked, so she looked in the window to be sure no one was paying attention before she threw her bags down and quickly climbed down off the train. She gathered the bags quickly before swiftly walking to the tree line hoping no one noticed her behavior.

As soon as she was hidden by the trees she turned south and began walking. Yuery looked around and gave a disgruntled little sigh that made her giggle. Yuery frowned up at her and she said. "I know Buddy. You're sick of adventures at this point. I promise this will be the last time for awhile."

Yuery huffed up at her and said "Dadda bye Yeye abba Mama."

"Yeah Daddy's with Yeye back in the city Buddy…did you call me Mama?" Winry said, freezing when she processed that final part. She wondered how Ed would feel about it. She decided at least for now it worked in her favor. No one would give her too much trouble over him if he was calling her mom after all.

She continued on through the trees, doing her best to hurry over the uneven ground. She wasn't exactly sure how much time she had, but she felt like she was running short already. She had to get them over the border. Even if they were still inside the country as long as they got outside the circle they should be okay. Ed had shown her the map, and had given her a rough map to take with her that showed where she needed to be as quickly as possible. It was in the bottom of the diaperbag.

She would double check it once they sat down for lunch she decided. It wasn't the safest choice she had ever made to wander through a forest with just a child as company. If not for her promise, she would have stayed on the train… no she would have stayed with Granny. Granny had refused to come along stating that she would only slow Winry down.

Central

Directly Under Central Command

Roy watched in horror as first Hawkeye was injured, then Edward disappeared right in front of his eyes. He whirled on the doctor and demanded to know where his son had gone, only for the man to laugh. The princess healed Riza, and then he was attacked himself by Pride.

Before Roy knew what was happening he'd been pinned to the array and found himself in a white void before everything went black. He felt around, before standing carefully, as voices behind him yelled. He recognized those of his sons as rough hands grabbed his shoulders and Ed's voice gently said. "What did it take from him? Who did you try?"

"No one's dead Ed, Pride opened the gate with me in the circle. It's so dark in here, are you alright?" Roy said, a sinking feeling settling in his stomach.

"Dad, it's not dark in here. The Bastard took your sight." Ed said sadly.

"Oh no." A woman said sounding concerned, Roy knew he'd heard her voice before but couldn't place it.

"Teacher, can you check on AL please?" Ed said as he grabbed Roy's arm and was leading him somewhere, presumably somewhere slightly safer.

"Al's here? Is he alright?" Roy said as he almost jerked away before realizing he had no idea where Al was exactly.

"His armor is, he hasn't woken up yet though." Ed said and Roy could hear the frown on his face.

"I'm sure he'll be fine Ed." Said the woman-Izumi- from his left.

A voice he had never heard before came from his right and Roy stiffened before Ed confirmed this was the creature they had come to fight. How was he going to protect his boys like this though. Ed was screaming angrily about the unjustness of Roy's punishment. Roy wanted to assure the boy he would be alright even if he wasn't sure himself because he would live through this and so would Hawkeye and his sons.

He was doing his best to keep up with what was happening without his eyes, but it was hard to track at times. He knew the boys' birth father was there, and Al had recovered from whatever had happened because he heard him too. Then they were all grabbed and pulled into an array.

Southern Region Forested area

Winry had checked the map over, and was confident they would be there soon, but not soon enough she realized as she felt a terrible pain rip through her chest. She sat quickly so she wouldn't pitch forward onto the baby, and leaned back against the tree as she hugged the screaming child.

The pain grew worse, and there was a red light that seemed to come from the earth itself surrounding them as she clung to the baby and tried to comfort him. He went limp in her arms, terrifying her, then she saw a pearl gray wisp of smoke pulling away from him, and noticed another away from her.

As her vision faded, she was terrified to witness a second Charcoal Black tendril pull out of the scar on Yuery's forehead. Unlike the gray tendrils this one pulled back and forth as if it was resisting before it dissipated completely. Winry had no idea what that meant, but she didn't want to know either. Her final thought was that she hoped Ed was able to fix this so they wouldn't loose their baby.

Central

All around the city, the country, people collapsed. Only those directly above the chamber were safe, so Central Command. Scar had already gotten to work on the counter circle, which he would activate any second, even as the battle raged below their feet. Mustang/Armstrong group was doing a decent job keeping the situation at bay it could work.

Meanwhile down below Scar was ready to activate his array and Ed had defeated Pride. Roy had heard the whole thing of course, and it was a gift for Roy. He understood now. Using your own lifeforce was possible, though it could also rebound instantly.

The fight had migrated and he found himself with Riza at his side, which was a huge comfort but he had lost track of his sons. The battle was getting louder, harder to keep track of, but Riza was steering him and telling him when to snap. He heard Al in the commotion and was relieved beyond measure when Ed's voice joined the fray. His boys were safe then.

Riza told him to stay down, he did, as voices around them screamed and he asked what was happening. She quietly gave him a detailed description of the battlefield, which seemed to focus primarily on his sons, their birth father, that prince his son had befriended, some girl, and a monster that looked like a slightly older version of Ed from what Riza was describing. There would be time to sort that one out later he assumed.

Southern Forest

WInry woke with a gasp. Everything hurt. She didn't know where she was at first, but then the memories slammed back into place. She had been pulled from her body, watched helplessly as Yuery was pulled from his, and latched onto him to keep them together even as they were pushed together with millions of others.

Something had changed, they had been freed, she had made sure to keep tight to little Yuery as they soared back to where they had started, then she had gently let go and watched Yuery sail back into his form before she did the same. She sighed with relief when the baby tied to her chest gave a small pained cry. It had likely hurt him like it had her, but they were both fine.

The memory of their ordeal was already fading from her mind aside from the painful memory of something tugging from her body. She then remembered the other piece. The dark THING that had expelled from the baby. She remembered shoving it as far from them as possible even as she held onto the boy. She remembered it squirming as if pained, but unlike herself, Yuery, and millions of others it has disintegrated, disappeared completely without its host.

She was going to have to tell Ed about that, and that they hadn't made it across the border despite her best attempt. Hopefully he wasn't to angry with her for failing. For now, whatever had been happening seemed to be over. She turned back in the direction they had come wondering if she should try to get back to the train.

Even if she had missed the train, her best chance to quickly find a safe place to sit down would be that direction and she wasn't sure how much longer she could stand/ She began carefully making her way through the trees, the baby already asleep against her chest. Soon she would try to figure out what exactly had happened.

Central City

Under Lab Four

As all the surviving scientists returned to their bodies and regained their senses part of what had happened at least became clear. Whatever had yanked them away. Whatever that had been, and they all agreed it was probably one of those 'So classified you shouldn't even ask if it is classified' things, it had saved them in a way.

They had been sealed in down here by an alchemist, but then those things had started pouring in and most of them had been killed. A few of them had fought back but the monsters were next to impossible to kill. Luckily they had the armor men. Six suits of armor, housing the souls of very evil men, who had been given a second chance provided they guard these tunnels.

The armored men, and the white monsters were all completely still. None of them had come back, were able to come back even if they wanted to. Whatever had been done to unbind all of the people here from their bodies had done the same to these monsters, but unlike the humans they had not been able to return. Perhaps it was because this was not the body the soul belonged to so without a conduit to shove them back in like they were unable to return.

There was still fighting in the distance, but should they want to escape now was when they should have left. Something sounded like it was exploding over at Command HQ, and no one wanted to move. Whatever was happening, it was bad. The three men who had managed to survive decided to stay hidden in the lab they had locked themselves into when they had been chased by those monsters and just wait until everything was quiet.

Hopefully once night fell, they would be able to sneak out of the city, from what they had seen through the windows before they had been rushed into the basement that their had been soldiers everywhere fighting each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Promised Day is covered by roughly seventeen episodes of Brotherhood and seven volumes of the manga. As such there is very little of the fight that has not been covered in other media/material so I chose not to do a massive battle royale and cover the highlights of Part of the battle instead. Giving insight into the thoughts of the protagonists.
> 
> That said. It's not over yet.


	12. Sacrifices to a Better Future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Battle with Father

Sacrifices to a Better Future

Southern Forest

Winry stumbled tiredly as she finally saw the train tracks. The train she had been on was still there, which she was not expecting, not after everything else that had happened, but she realized with a start that it had actually only been about forty minutes.

She looked around as she had when she jumped off, but no one noticed her in the chaos as she climbed back onboard. She didn't think she'd be up to walking all the way to the nearest town so she was grateful to find her seat six cars up just as she had left it. She even waived at the friendly waiter.

Once they were secured back in their seats, with her bags carefully stored away again, Winry began to relax. Everything was going to be okay. When they got to the station, she would trade in her ticket for one back to Resembool and in a few days she would head back to Central like they'd agreed unless she received word that they had lost, at which point she would run with the boy and make her Granny go with her next time.

The train was very quiet as everyone was trying to get resettled after all of that. She doubted anyone had noticed she'd ever been gone, which was good because the last thing she needed was to stand out in any way after all of that. None of the children on board were making a sound, including the one in her arms. She looked down at him once again, worried once more about the thing that had happened to him.

Why had there been something else in him like that? Was he really okay? All he seemed to want to do was sleep, but the other kids were the same way…and so were the adults. She just hoped against hope that Yuery would be all right. That his dad was all right. She didn't want to think about it anymore but her brain wouldn't shut up about how she had failed. This was worse than the guilt she had felt over missing a screw in Ed's arm. She was supposed to get him to safety, and instead she got them stuck in the forest just in time for that…something to attack him like that. At least she'd managed to hold onto him when they were all drug…somewhere. That part was almost completely gone now.

She couldn't forget. Wouldn't forget that dark thing that had come out of him because as much as she hated herself for failing to protect him, Ed needed to know it happened. If it meant something bad for the baby, he was going to have to know. If it meant that he wanted nothing more to do with her, that he wanted her far far away from his child after her failure she would take it. She would stay away, because this was worse than forgetting a screw. This was his child. A child she loved so dearly, he might as well be hers and she failed him.

Yuery seemed to sense her tension because he stirred briefly before patting her arm and muttering like she had seen him do a hundred times when his father was upset. The child was very empathetic, and his behavior assured her that at least she had managed to keep the piece of him that was him safe even when they had been ripped away from their bodies. Tiredly she scrounged around in the diaper bag after pulling it down again, and fed him part of a piece of cheese before he settled back down and fell asleep.

A few minutes later, their train began moving slowly forward and the conductor came into the car to announce "We are going five miles up the track to the turn around. We will be returning to East City, with the regularly scheduled stops along the way. Please remain calm, no one knows what happened but everyone seems unharmed. You may reschedule your trip south when you arrive at the station where you boarded without cost. Just visit the ticket seller there. Thank you for your co-operation at this time please remain calm."

He made his way down the aisle and was headed to the next car before anyone could say anything, presumably to give the same speech. Winry rested her head against the hard bench back and closed her eyes. That was one problem solved, she would arrive in Resembool in about four hours and could check on Granny then, and hopefully there would be some news as to what happened in Central by the time she arrived.

Central Command HQ

Father's Chamber

Pride Battle

Ed knew it was a risky move, but something Greeling had said while they were on the road gave him the idea. He removed the stone from Pride, and left what he had been Before. Before Pride, he had been a baby. Not just a baby, a baby who had not yet been born from the look of him. Ed wasn't sure he had done the right thing after all. Would it survive like this? Was it suffering? That seemed so much more important than the first question in a way because his own actions were what was causing the child's pain he would feel terrible.

It was too late to do anything about it now though, because the others needed his help. He promised the baby he would be back for it before carefully folding it into his coat and hiding it safely out of the way from any of the falling dust or chips of rubble that were in the air. He had to help the others before he helped this creature that was hopefully no longer a monster.

Once the former-Pride-turned-baby was secure, Ed made his way out of the chamber with a quick clap of his hands. The sooner this battle was over the better. He still was trying to think of a way to help his dad too because unlike the rest of them Roy was being punished for something he didn't do.

As he reached the surface he noticed how rough the battle was going. They already were surrounding the creature that called itself Father, but they weren't making any progress with him. He rushed into the fight with a quick nod to Hawkeye. He hoped she managed to keep Roy back because Ed did not want to lose another parent.

Central Command HQ

Parade Grounds

Final Battle

Roy was told to not hold back. This terrified him, but he trusted Riza with everything, so he had to trust she would not put his sons in danger, or any innocent parties. It was alarming even to him the power of the fire released without restraint. He felt like it would set the whole world on fire if left unchecked. It didn't work. At least not completely, the monster she had aimed him at was still on the move. There was a large explosion, everyone flew from the sound of it.

Then came the worst scream he had ever heard. The most terrifying sound he could imagine. Not because he had never heard such a sound before but because he had. In Ishbal. In the aftermath of his own actions, he had heard that sound rise from the ash.

At the time, he thought he would never hear a worse cry, the keening of loss. He had always refused to use the sound to hunt the stragglers, he knew others weren't so kind…or maybe it was cowardice. He would never know. But he'd heard the sound before, so he knew it well. It haunted his nightmares since the war. Drove him to drink. Drove his resolve. Never again did he want to hear that sound.

It was a thousand times worse to hear that sound from the throat of his son. The wretched scream of loss and anger that could only mean that Al was gone. Roy couldn't see what was happening. He couldn't see what had happened to his boys. He felt worse than helpless even as he asked Riza what was going on.

She simply confirmed his worse fears when she said " Ed was trapped, impaled, his arm gone. The monster was headed toward him. Al was damaged, too damaged to help, so he… he broke his seal Roy. Ed has his arm back. Al is gone."

Roy felt like being sick. How could this have happened? How could he have failed to protect them? This wasn't how it was supposed to go. Ed and Al were supposed to heal, to find a way to make themselves whole so that they could be happy for the rest of their lives in peace. That was the promise he had made to them.

"Hohenheim. He's over by Al, he's drawing something, I can't see what. Ed's fighting the monster. He just punched it hard enough to knock it several feet back. Everyone is staying away now. Something is happening to Prince Ling. I can't. The monster is doing something to him." Riza said quietly. "I can't get you a clear shot I'm sorry."

Riza wasn't saying anymore, she just gripped his arm tightly and kept them from moving anywhere. He jerked forward a few times, wanting to help, to comfort his child, to find what was left of his other child, but Riza pulled him back again and again. No one else was fighting anymore, he could hear frightened murmurs all around him, heard the prince scream. It was almost as disturbing as Ed's continued cries.

Riza let out a small gasp beside him and there was a loud roar. He again asked what had happened but all she said in return was "We won sir."

He tried to step forward again, this time she allowed, guided him forward over uneven and unfamiliar ground toward the quiet sobs of a young girl. Before they got close enough, he heard the ring of a transmutation activating and Ed screaming no behind him. Ed rushed by him without pausing to say anything and Roy froze. "Did it just get worse?"

"I don't know." Riza said. "Hohenheim activated the array. I don't know."

Ed screamed as he fell to his knees outside his father's array. The moron had taken it upon himself to fix this. This was Ed's mistake, Ed was supposed to figure it out. Al's armor dissolved before his eyes and the girl, Mei sat next to Ed crying. She was hugging that strange cat-bear-thing that was her pet and sobbing into it's fur. He wanted to comfort her, but didn't know how. His brother was gone, he had given himself back to the gate to save Ed. His bastard of a birth father was gone, he's gave himself to the gate to try to get his brother back. Ed wasn't certain that would work. What if it didn't and Al was gone? What if it did and Al blamed him?

He finally reached out to the girl and patted her back. As soon as he made contact she wailed and threw herself into his arms. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. He told me to do it. I didn't want to do it, but he begged me. He told me he would be okay, but he's not and its not and I'm sorry."

"Hey. It's okay. No one can blame you for any of this. It's not your fault, had you refused to help him Al would have found a way to do it anyway." Ed said in a raspy voice, his throat raw from screaming.

Roy and Hawkeye came closer, and Ling dropped down on Mei's other side. Ed looked up at them as Hawkeye helped Roy to kneel next to his remaining son and pull Ed into a hug just as Ling pulled Mei into one. No one said anything as the array continued to glow faintly, occasionally flaring, before with a flare so large everyone had to look away, it went dark leaving Al behind.

A very thin, very naked Al, who was breathing judging by the rise and fall of his chest. Ed moved to lunge toward his brother as Hawkeye stopped him with a hand across his chest. They couldn't afford for Ed to be sent to the hospital too, or worse if the array reactivated. Instead she stepped over the lines herself, taking care not to step on any of the lines.

She wrapped the tiny boy in a long coat and carried him carefully back out of the circle before laying him on the lawn. Ed scrambled over to him, Mei and Ling right behind them. Roy joined them a moment later with Hawkeye's help. Al blinked awake as Roy settled next to Ed. He smiled at them all.

Ed smiled back before hugging his brother tightly. Al's smile was one of the best things he had ever seen. He felt tears run down his own face as he sat back up and help Al sit slowly. "I'm okay. It's okay." Al said, hugging his brother again, before reaching a hand toward Roy. "Are you okay Dad?"

Ed smiled at his brother, and at Roy's expression when he realized it was him Al was reaching for; he leaned in carefully to hug the younger boy and was appalled at his thinness but didn't comment. What was important was that both of his boys were safe. He felt the girl join them in the hug, and after a moment of hesitation, the prince as well. No one was saying anything else at the moment, but they were surrounded by people who were complete shocked at all that had happened, including the boy's appearance.

Hawkeye then calmly took charge and started directing people toward the exits, and informed those who were still hugging on the ground that they were all to go to the hospital as soon as she finished talking Ling nodded before turning to Ed. "I don't know how many uses they have before they're gone, but I have a stone. Use it to help your Dad."

"I can't take that from you Ling, you need it to save your clan. Go save your people." Ed said nothing of what he was actually thought about any of it aside from trying to send Ling away.

Before either boy could say anything else Hawkeye was shooing them toward the cars she had brought around. With a stern expression she ordered them all to stop talking before they were in a secure location away from the press. Ling wasn't going anywhere until he had been looked over. The girls from his party as well.

With so many teens and Roy needing to be guided, it shouldn't have been surprising that they didn't notice Ed's absence until they reached the car. Since it had been quite a trek down the stairs and through the crowd to make it to the car, it had been close to ten minutes since anyone could reliably say they had last seen him. The near panic in Mustang's voice when he learned the boy was missing was enough to break Al down and get him to admit Ed had told him he had to grab something inside and that he would be right back. This didn't completely alleviate their fear but it did lessen it considerably.

Just as Ling and Riza were both arguing over which of the two of them should go in search of the wayward alchemist he appeared beside them with his coat bundled in his arms instead of worn. He shrugged at their confused expressions and climbed into the car next to Al. Roy was guided in after him, then Lan Fan and Ling climbed into the other seat, followed by Mei. Riza shut the door before climbing into the passenger seat. The driver was Heymans Breda much to everyone's relief. He knew how to keep quiet if they needed to talk about anything on the way to the hospital.

"Why aren't you wearing it, it's what you went back for isn't it? Mei asked after a minute gesturing to Ed's coat.

"Yeah well. I like this coat but it got a bit ripped up. I'll fix it later." Ed said as he hugged the coat closer to him.

"What are you hiding in it?" Ling asked in a cheerful voice but serious expression that Ed had come to know well over the winter. It meant that Ling already knew, or at least had a strong idea, of what Ed was hiding but wanted to make him say it.

"I'm not hiding anything." Ed insisted as he hugged the coat closer to his chest, and old familiar stubbornness in his tone that made Roy groan. Now he knew the boy was hiding something. Ed was a terrible liar when it came to his friends.

"Ed…we all know you." Mei said, which caused Roy and Ed both to frown, Roy because he couldn't place the voice and Ed because he barely knew Mei which meant she'd picked up what her brother had.

Al reached for the coat and Ed leaned into Roy to avoid his brother's grasp. Roy instinctively wrapped an arm over the boy's shoulder and hugged him to his side. If Ed didn't want to talk about whatever was bothering him there was plenty of time to confront him later. Right now they all just needed to relax and calm down because it had been a trial.

Roy felt a familiar squirm between himself and Ed though it felt weaker than usual. "I didn't know he was close by, can I hold Yu Ed?' Roy asked.

"Winry took him across the border, I'm sorry Dad I'll make sure you get to hold him as soon as he gets back." Ed said.

Roy was confused. If Yuery wasn't here then who was Ed holding…and the others didn't seem to notice that he had been holding…what had he done now? "Ed. Who are you holding there?"

Ed tried to pull away from Roy as everyone else stared at the bundle in his arms, and he knew that it was over. He was going to have to explain and he didn't really know how. So he fell back into an old comment that worked well in the past. " Okay so… I did an impulsive thing." Ed explained as he pulled the bundle even tighter to him so that no one could take it.

Silence fell upon the group before his Dad yelled "WHAT?!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Promised Day is covered by roughly seventeen episodes of Brotherhood and seven volumes of the manga. As such there is very little of the fight that has not been covered in other media/material so I chose not to do a massive battle royale and cover the highlights of Part of the battle instead. Giving insight into the thoughts of the protagonists.


	13. Road to Recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Have you told your dad you got another one yet?" Ling said, ignoring Ed's denial about the child's future.
> 
> "Yes, you were there. But I'm not keeping him." Ed said as he snuggled the child closer to his chest.

Road to Recovery

Central City Military Hospital

Elric Room 103

3:00 pm (an hour and a half post battle)

Ed and Al had been placed in the room across the hall from Roy and Hawkeye, and Ed was glad. He didn't really see why he needed to be admitted at all, but if he was at least his family was surrounding him. Well most of his family. Yuery and Winry weren't here, but they should be in Aerugo right now and would be returning in a few days.

Now they were running a bunch of tests on Al, and a doctor was looking over Roy and patching up his hands, Hawkeye was with yet more doctors, and then there was the team wanting to look at him. He'd generously allowed them to patch up his arm and stitch his cheek, but when they mentioned the shrapnel in his shoulder he growled at them until they agreed he should have his regular surgeon take care of it.

Now he was sitting on the bed, in hospital pajamas, waiting for the fallout of his announcement in the car. So far no one had said anything aside from Roy's shocked "WHAT?!" which could be either a very good sign or a very bad one.

He allowed the doctors to look over the child. As it turned out, from the doctor's estimate, the child was about three hours old, and had been born roughly six weeks early, which was better than he thought he would get. They said the child was perfectly normal, if small. Now if he could just get Mei or Ling or Lan Fan to look him over and see if removing the stone worked it would be great.

He'd been inspired by what Greeling had said while they were traveling about how most of the Homunculus had started out human, and it was the introduction of the stones that had changed them, like it had Ling. Ed remembered that Wrath had told his dad a similar story about starting out human. He had been slightly different of course, and so was Greeling, but it stood to reason that it was possible Selim Brady was once human, and the part of him that was human might still be buried in there.

He hadn't counted on Selim's natural state being so young. He had assumed the boy would be a child, of course, but a newborn? How?

What's done was done though, and now Ed had to figure out what he was supposed to do now. He hoped they would let him talk to Ling or Roy soon. Ling was being seen in room 105, just next door. Though being seen actually meant frowning at his lack of wounds before moving on to his sister and his bodyguard, both of whom actually had injuries.

Lan Fan, like Ed, refused to allow treatment of her port, insisting her surgeon would look at the tearing, but allowed them to treat her other injuries. Mei also required treatment to a couple of wounds. None of them were happy to learn both girls would be kept overnight to watch for brain injuries. Ling finally turned to his little sister after the doctors stopped fussing, and explained to her how he had won the race for the stone, but he was putting her clan under his protection.

After Mei's emotional response, Ling slipped out of his room in search of the Elrics. He smiled as he walked into the sight of Ed patiently coaxing the newborn into eating a bottle. Without looking away from the baby Ed said "Stop smirking and get in here. I need you to look the kid over and see if his chi or whatever is just him, or if he's still a problem… also this isn't my first time feeding a baby it isn't that amazing that I know what to do."

Ling walked closer to the bed even as he smirkingly said "Oh no one's doubting you ability to be a total mother…hen Ed. Everyone is just surprised you managed to pull off the impossible again."

"I'm no one's mom. Shut up on that, I'm Yuerys dad thank you very much. How's the baby already." Ling took the baby from Ed to get a closer look at him. He wasn't sure if Ed handing the kid over easily was a sign he trusted Ling or that he wasn't attached to the kid. Ling decided not to ask, but did subtly let the baby's head slip slightly into an uncomfortable but safe angle to test it out.

Ed growled at him, snatching the child back. "Well? Is he human or not?"

"Oh he's completely human. Congratulations another miracle. So what are you naming this one?" Ling said as he leaned over to poke the baby's belly gently.

"I'M NOT KEEPING HIM! What the hell Ling?! Don't you think one baby is enough right now?!" Ed said in response. "…But not Selim. He needs a new identity. Something new and separate from what they made him."

"Have you told your dad you got another one yet?" Ling said, ignoring Ed's denial about the child's future.

"Yes, you were there. But I'm not keeping him." Ed said as he snuggled the child closer to his chest. Now that it had been confirmed he was just a normal baby it was easier to cuddle him. He clearly needed it because he immediately calmed and went to sleep. "Winry is supposed to be here in a few days. Are you going to see if Mei will stick around to see if she can help Yuery?"

"You could ask her yourself you know. I already talked to her, we are staying for a couple days to let her recover before we challenge the desert. She agreed to look at him and see what she could do." Ling said as he waived. "I'll see you later, I'm going to go find food."

Ed settled back in his bed, unhappy about being confined to his room, and once again alone with just a sleeping brother and baby when he was full of nervous energy. He laid his head back against the pillow, hoping someone else would come in. He should have asked Ling to grab him a book or something.

Resembool

Rockbelle Automail Outfitters

5:00pm

Winry came in the front door, concerned about how her Granny had faired with her soul being sucked out and shoved back. She wasn't a young woman after all. Granny frowned as Winry walked into the kitchen. "This is not Aerugo girl."

"The border's closed, and after the…whatever that was, they turned everyone around to get off where they got on and they'll exchange our tickets no charge. I traded mine to go to Central. I need to call and see if everyone's okay."

"I tried the number Ed gave us and there was no answer, both numbers." Granny said with a frown.

Winry looked at the numbers before shaking her head and saying. "Roy's office isn't going to have anyone in right now, and I doubt they are home, even if Ed managed to not break his automail this time, which I doubt. I'm calling Ms Gracia, she'll know at least if it's safe for me and Yuery to travel into the city."

Winry was surprised with how quickly Gracia answered the phone, until she said that Ed had mentioned that Winry had the baby when she's gone to check on him. Apparently, he was in the hospital. Winry was not surprised. Gracia confirmed that it was safe to come to the city, but warned her that Ed and Roy's house wasn't okay. She and Yuery would stay with the Hughes while they worked everything out. Once she had taken care of that., she went to go annoy her grandmother by fussing over her.

Before she could say anything to her grandmother, the phone rang again and Granny answered. She hummed into the phone for a few minutes with her eyebrowed raised before saying "I and my assistant will be there tomorrow morning" and hanging up. She turned to WInry with a frown. "I need to pack. Edward managed to get himself hurt, but is refusing to allow anyone to touch his shoulder aside from his normal surgeons. They are worried he may develop an infection if its left untreated, so they need us there as quickly as possible to look him over and book a theater with the number of patients. I agree to prebook, so we need to be there no later than seven so we can look him over beforehand."

"What did that idiot do this time? I'll go get his spare arm, you should pack." Winry said with a groan.

"Don't bother with the arm. If his shoulder is damaged, he's just going to have to live without it for a few weeks while it heals." Granny said as she pulled her emergency bag out of the closet." We need to catch the train, it leaves in ten minutes come on."

Central City Military Hospital

Room 104- Mustang/Hawkeye

7:00 pm

Both Hawkeye and Mustang had been thoroughly examined. The doctors assured Roy they could see no permanent damage to either of his hands, and that they expected he would make a full recovery over the next few months. They were confounded by his eyes, which did not appear to have suffered any damage. They explained that his sight could return any time, or not at all, because it was a brain trauma not ocular, they were not well versed in treatment options.

Roy knew exactly what had happened to his eyes and was not expecting anything positive from his exam. Dr. Marcoh came in shortly after the doctors left to offer his services to speed up their healing. They insisted he go take his support to Jean Havoc first.

Meanwhile, Roy was already making plans for Ishval, and for his bid for Fuhrer, and for his family. He needed to talk to his boys, especially Edward, to find out their plans. He didn't want them to go anywhere, but he understood if they wanted to return to Resembool for a while. Resembool was close enough to Ishval he might even be able to find a way to come with them.

He had been given the summery of the first set of meetings. So far, the only thing they agreed and insisted that everyone involved in the Incident would be promoted. Grumman was acting as interim fuhrer and was likely to keep the position for at least a few months while everything was sorted. Mustang was not currently the best option if they wanted to sell his hero story, but Grumman had long supported his ambition so he wasn't worried. Was Haruko was out of the running, and Armstrong preferred to return to Briggs, leaving Roy the most likely eventual candidate.

He asked that a nurse go retrieve Edward for him after his meeting with Marcoh, and she returned about ten minutes later with Ed trailing behind. It was the first he'd heard from Ed since they arrived at the hospital. Ed hesitated at the door for a moment before Roy heard him walk quietly across the room, mindful of Hawkeye sleeping quietly in the next bed. "Hey. How are the hands?" Ed said in a near whisper as he at on the edge of Roy's bed.

"No permanent damage. I'll recover. How is Al doing? And you?" Roy asked.

" I got my arm back, but it's like super weak, and Al is too, but he's great. I meant to come see you earlier, sorry."

"It's alright Edward. I understand." Roy said with a smile. He missed the boy, he had known he missed the boy, but wasn't aware of how much he had missed Ed until Ed was right next to him.

"I'm sorry I missed our meeting too. Pride had grabbed Al, and everything went crazy, and then Al ended up locked in with Pride and it was all a huge mess and the sun came up." Ed rushed out. "I wanted to meet you though, I promise. I really missed you Dad."

"I missed you too. More than I thought possible, you and your brother. Be sure to tell Al I miss him and will come visit him as soon as they'll let me." Roy said, as Ed shifted further onto the bed.

"I didn't explain well earlier." Ed said as he leaned against Roy's side. Roy took it as an invitation and wrapped his arm over the boy's shoulders giving him a hug. "My automail was broken, and I was impaled in the left arm. Father was coming toward me, and no one was close enough to help. Al broke his seal to give me back my arm and it worked. Al was gone Dad! Gone! My shoulder had a bunch of metal bits in it and the doctors are worried about infection but I wouldn't let anyone but the Rockbelle touch it because they know exactly where all of it was connected and everything."

""I'm glad you got it back. Are you in pain? May I see it?" Roy asked. Ed laughed a bit at his wording but placed his hand in Roy's so Roy felt how thin the hand and forearm were. He frowned at the arm's frailness, concerned not just for Ed but Al. They clearly had not been restored in good contition.

"Yeah, I'm going to have to do some physio on the arm." Ed said to Roy's frown. "Al's going to need work too. Right now he can barely stand."

"What about the baby you had earlier?" Roy asked, no one had mentioned the child again but he was concerned. All Ed had said on the matter was that he's made an impulsive choice which didn't really explain anything.

"Okay well. Um." Ed shuffled around again and then placed something warm and wrapped up about the size of a loaf of bread in his free arm. "He's perfectly healthy but premature according to the doctors. He's perfectly human according to Ling, Mei, and Lan Fan so it worked."

"What worked exactly?" Roy said even as he instinctively pulled the child closer to his chest to hold him more securely.

"While I was traveling with Greed and the others, one night when we couldn't sleep, Greed explained how he came to be the time before Ling. He said aside from Envy who was just an experiment, all of them were like Greed and Wrath, and they had been people at some point. Well, there wasn't much to do but theorize and take care of Yuery and heal. Anyway, we had a theory, that if the stone was removed they may return to their original state. Ling is back to normal. I removed the stone, this was once Pride, but now he's just a baby."

"How did you manage that?" Roy asked weakly. He was kind of afraid the answer was going to be traumatic.

"Turned myself into pure energy and yanked the extra parts out of his soul." Ed said in a whisper. Roy wasn't sure if that was his shame or to keep anyone from overhearing.

"You brave, foolish, wonderful boy." Roy said as he hugged Ed tighter. "You could have killed yourself. You have no idea what that kind of thing may have cost."

"Two weeks, three days, and nine hours." Ed said. "Rough estimate. My stomach cost one year, four months and two days. Gluttony cost sixty three days."

"… I need you to promise me you won't do it again unless you will die like the stomach injury." Roy said growing cold at the idea that his child had traded bits of his life away like that.

"I promise." Ed said solemnly.

"So what are we doing with him?" Roy asked after a moment of silence.

"I don't know yet, but we got to make sure he's safe and happy and separate from his previous life, so not Mrs. Bradley, and he needs a new name." Ed said as he gently took the baby back. "I'm not supposed to stay more than twenty minutes and it's been at least twice that."

Reluctantly, Ed made his way back out of the room, and Roy tried to lay down for a nap. He was as useless as he was in rain at this point, He might as well grab some sleep because the insanity was about to begin.

Room 103

Al woke up as Ed and the baby came back into the room, and smiled at his brother. "Hey."

"Hey. Dad says Hi and he'll come see you as soon as they let him." Ed said. "Um. I mean Roy. Dad Roy."

"We only have one Dad Ed." Al said as he hit the button to raise his bed. "We had two fathers but we only had one Dad. I see that now and have for awhile."

"It's okay Al. I know I was upset over Him and you wanting to spend time with Him but you don't have to spare my feelings on it." Ed said as he sat on his own bed after setting the baby in the crib they had brought in for him.

"I spent time with Hohenheim in Liore…and I realized he's not my Dad. When I think Dad I see Roy in my head." Al said with a smile. "I'm grateful he gave me back my life before you could do anything stupid, and we both know you would have, but it doesn't change anything."

"They yelled at me for letting the kid sleep in my bed, but I'm not sure how I feel about having to leave him in that little glass box." Ed said, changing the subject.

"These beds are kind of narrow, and they have you on medication." Al said with a frown. "I though you said you weren't keeping him."

"I'm not. I just haven't figured out the best thing for him." Ed said pensively.

"Hmm." Al said as he lowered his bed again, already tired once more. "When is Winry getting here?"

"Tomorrow. First thing, I hope she isn't too upset over what happened and can take care of the scraps easily. It's lucky she was able to get here so fast or they would have insisted looking themselves…how is she getting here so quickly? She was supposed to be in Aureago. She at Granny's though. What the hell?! My baby better be okay!"

"Calm down Brother. You don't know what happened yet, let her explain before getting mad." Al said.

"They closed the borders she probably got stuck on one of the trains. They were talking about it on the radio earlier." Ling said making both brothers jump.

"What are you doing in here?" Ed demanded, a little surprised, but also happy to see his friend again.

"You looked tired and Al is no good right now. I'm not at all tired so I thought I'd come offer to take the child for awhile so you can get some sleep." Ling said with a smile.

"Well… I guess. But you stay in here to watch him. That way if you need help I'm right here. Make sure to support his head."

"I know. I'll be careful I promise." Ling said as he happily scooped up the baby, supporting his head correctly as he sat in the chair in the corner. Ed sighed but laid down, confidant that he would wake to the baby needing something if necessary


	14. Miracles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "If you want me to leave, just say so. I'm not one to stay where I'm not wanted, I thought we were friends!" Ling said, but made no move to put the baby down.
> 
> Ed rolled his eyes and scoffed before he said "You come in uninvited all the time, You aren't going to stop now. Go ahead and cuddle him, it'll help him adjust much better than sitting alone behind glass."
> 
> "I knew you loved me." Ling said happily before cuddling the baby tighter to his chest. Ed sighed and gave Roy a look that clearly read 'look what I put up with' but settled back on his bed

Miracles

Room 103

Elrics

8:00 am

Winry rushed into the room in a whirlwind of toolboxes and luggage with a scowl on her face "What did you do to my automail this time Edward?!"

Ed, who had been feeding the still unnamed baby glared back. "I got my arm back, thank you for your concern."

Winry froze when she actually looked at him. He did indeed have his arm back, as well as a few cuts and bruises, He was also holding a baby she didn't know but judging by the isolet, was staying in this room. "Who is that?" She asked, surprise clear in her voice.

"He doesn't have a name yet. Don't change the subject, why are you here? You should still be in Aerugo."

"They stopped the trains! I tried to walk but I wasn't fast enough, and then after… that… I walked back to the tracks in hopes of getting help, but our train still hadn't moved so I climbed back on. They turned around and dumped everyone where they'd been picked up. I TRIED." Winry explained. "How did you get an arm and a second baby?"

"I got an arm and Al's body and I'm not keeping him. I just have to find a good home for him." Ed said, as Pinako walked into the room carrying Yuery. Yuery saw his dad and squirmed to get to him. Pinako complied and sat the baby down next to his father.

Yuery quickly climbed into Ed's lap and patted his arm to say hi before looking at the newborn curiously. Taking the opportunity of Ed's distraction, Winry began examining his shoulder. It looked like for the most part the housing was just gone, leaving behind a couple of the deeper screws, but she was going to ask for X-rays to be sure.

Al woke while they were all leaning over Ed and said hello. Both women descend of the younger Elric, much to the elder's relief. He settled Yuery back against the raised bed, before placing the baby in his lap. Yuery smiled down at the baby and kissed his forehead.

"Baby. Dadda. Baby." Yuery said, as he kissed the baby again.

"Good job Yu. Yes, baby." Ed said with a smile.

The nurse who had told Ed he had to use the isolet came in then, and gasped loudly at the sight of Yuery holding the baby. "Mr. Elric! Why is that toddler holding that baby?"

"Because I let him? Come on lady, I know what I'm doing. As you can clearly see, I'm still holding onto the baby myself!" Ed replied angrily.

"Technically, it's Major Elric, not Mister." Breda said from the doorway. Before walking it and saluting Ed.

"Be that as it may, he clearly knows nothing about children, He's far too young to have that child, and I doubt very much he holds any rank at all let alone Major." The nurse replied.

"Um, read the file on the end of my bed lady. Breda, please go fetch me the necessary forms to have this woman removed from my rotation. I don't want this hateful woman treating my brother, or bothering my son."

"Yes, sir." Breda said as he set down the file he had brought in, before turning to the nurse one last time. "For the record, that's Major Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist. You know, the one that just saved this whole country… I really don't think you should tell him how to raise his son, he could have you fired in less than an hour should he choose to do so."

Ed had taken the baby back and placed him in the isolet, before picking up Yuery to come glare at the nurse himself. "Hey. If you have a problem with the way I do things, talk to Roy Mustang, he's right across the hall."

The nurse was not backing down, this teenager was not going to get the best of her, she didn't care who he claimed to be. ANYONE could claim to be an officer. Pinako approached the woman next, livid with the excitement this woman was creating. "I need you out of this room immediately, this level of stress is not good for my patients. I will not have you compromising Major Elric's recovery."

"This is my floor ma'am, I am perfectly within my duties to-"

"I want you out now." Pinako said, cutting the woman off.

Room 104

Mustang/Hawkeye

8:00 am

Marcoh had just arrived, and finished setting up, after assuring Roy that he had worked with Havoc first as promised. He had healed the spinal damage, but Havoc would still have weeks of physiotherapy to rebuild the muscles in his legs. This satisfied Roy, who consented to having his eyes healed now.

A few minutes later Roy registered a red light through his eyelids, before it faded and Marcoh told him to open his eyes slowly. The room had been darkened, but even with the low light, Roy could make out the shape of Marcoh just in front of him, and Riza, blurrier, sitting just a couple feet away in her hospital bed watching him carefully.

He could see. It was getting clearer with every blink. It was so amazing to him that he hadn't noticed the pain in his hands had faded until he clenched a first unconsciously. He was healed. It was a miracle. Marcoh stood and walked over to the window before opening the blinds a fraction at a time, giving Roy's eyes time to adjust.

Once he was comfortable with the lighting from a fully opened blind, Marcoh came back over to run a few tests on his eyes. His sight wasn't perfect. It may never return to perfect according to the doctor, but Roy didn't care. He could see! He could see Riza clearly, and Marcoh. The other side of the room was still a little hazy, but already improving. Looking at the paper he had been given to test was still blurry, but he could go get reading glasses and be done with it.

His hands were unexpected, from both of them if Marcoh was to be believed. Roy saw no reason to question him further. He would be able to check himself out of the hospital possibly as early as tomorrow. Which was good because he had learned his house had been completely burned during the fight, so he needed to find a place for him and his boys.

His mind already turning toward thoughts of house hunting and Ishbal and his boys he almost missed it when Marcoh forbid him from paperwork until he found another doctor and that he should avoid going outside until tomorrow because the sunlight was another reason he was stuck another day. He would call his aunt then to put her on the case, which would be narrowed down at least by her so that he could have them in a new place before Ed was released.

He was still musing over these plans when he heard his eldest scream "I want you out right now and I want your manager in here." He climbed from his bed without waiting for Riza or Marcoh to respond and was halfway to the door before Marcoh joined him while grumbling about difficult patients.

Roy stormed across the hall, to find Edward pointing angrily at a nurse, while Alphonse (Roy was pretty sure that was Al anyway) scowled, Pinako Rockbelle was threatening the woman with a wrench, Winry Rockbelle was glaring from next an isolet holding Yuery, and Prince Ling was standing next to Ed with his arms crossed and a authoritative frown on his face. Roy sighed. "What's going on in here?" he asked.

The nurse glanced in their direction, before Ed spoke over whatever she would have said. "This woman is disturbing my brother and the babies with her baseless accusations. If she is to treat me like this, what is she like with civilians. I want her fired, at least from this floor."

The nurse scoffed again, before saying "You are a civilian young man, I don't care if you want to claim otherwise-"

"Major Elric is not a civilian." Roy interrupted. "However, treating any of your patients is unacceptable. You have been asked to leave yet have been needlessly difficult."

"This is my floor! I am responsible for the health and safety of everyone on this floor, and I will not allow this child to play house with these infants. They are not dolls, someone needs to step in and ensure their safety." The nurse said.

"I see. Tell me madam, how exactly has he endangered his child from a hospital bed?" Roy said coolly. His sons recognized the anger radiating off of him, but the nurse seemed to think he was starting to sway to her side.

"He was napping with the smaller one in his bed earlier, and just now when I came in he had sat him in the elder one's lap."

"Edward. Tell me. Are you on any pain killers?" Roy asked.

"No."

"Then how is holding the children dangerous?" Roy asked the nurse. "Major Elric has been caring for his son for well over a year without issue, I trust his judgement. Furthermore, I heard Dr. Rockbelle order you from the room, as well as Major Elric."

"This is my floor! I can't be ordered from the room."

"You're fired." Ed said. "I just finished filling out the form. Get out of my room." He held out the form in question, which he had in fact finished filling out while his dad argued with the woman.

She sputtered some more before security arrived to escort her out of the room, the order signed by both doctors who were both officially visiting consultants and therefore had the authority to have her removed. She continue to argue the point until they could no longer hear her.

Once the commotion was over, Roy insisted on visiting with his sons for a few minutes before returning to his room. He sat in the chair between their beds, and held Yuery in his lap as he smiled brightly at Al. "Have you had a chance to hold your nephew yet? I know the Rockbelles have just arrived."

"Um, no not yet, may I?" Al asked weakly holding out thin arms toward his nephew.

Roy placed the Yuery in his lap before turning his attention to Ed who had returned to his bed and Winry was poking at his shoulder carefully. Ling had lingered in the room, not having said anything since Roy entered the room, but now sitting in the other chair holding the other baby. Pinako had left to go look at the x-rays they had already taken. Marcoh had slipped back out after reminding Roy not to overdue it. Ed smiled at his dad, glad to see that the man could once again see.

"Well. It looks as though I missed a great deal." Roy said, as Ed snorted and Al giggled.

"Not really." Ed said with a waive of his hand. " Just the usual. Person with a little bit of power deciding to exploit it. Idiot Prince here can't seem to stay out of my room, but he's been helping with the baby so I'm not complaining. Waiting for them to decide if we want it out, or if the metal can just stay. Depends on how much of a risk it is to my health according to Granny."

"If you want me to leave, just say so. I'm not one to stay where I'm not wanted, I thought we were friends!" Ling said, but made no move to put the baby down.

Ed rolled his eyes and scoffed before he said "You come in uninvited all the time, You aren't going to stop now. Go ahead and cuddle him, it'll help him adjust much better than sitting alone behind glass."

"I knew you loved me." Ling said happily before cuddling the baby tighter to his chest. Ed sighed and gave Roy a look that clearly read 'look what I put up with' but settled back on his bed Winry done poking for now had also settled at the foot of the bed and was writing in her notebook.

Roy continued to sit there alternating between holding the babies and flexing his hands to help remove the stiffness. This was the first time he's seen his boys together in months and he was in no rush to return to bed, the doctor in charge of his case until now had insisted he stay in bed until he had came to terms with his condition. Marcoh had officially taken over his case this morning and removed the restriction. Now though, Roy could be released as early as morning.

They briefly caught up with each other, telling their stories without detail in such a public place, hold over despite Fuery sweeping through the three times. They had spent too long in terror to completely relax, likely it would be months, possibly years, before they returned to their previous level of hyperawareness.

Granny returned a few minutes later, and the Rockbelles huddled in the corner comparing notes. Ed seemed to be getting nervous so Ling drew his attention by asking Ed what he planned to name the baby for the fifth time. Ed rolled his eyes again "I already told you, I'm not keeping him, Yuery's not really ready to be a brother yet, I just need to find him someone who will love him and care for him. Who knows his story but can look passed it. Who can handle it if it should become necessary and would be able tell the signs if the treatment didn't properly work."

"If you're so insistent on not keeping him, then why is he still here in your care?" Ling asked.

"He needs someone to take care of him until I find someone suitable." Ed said as Ling and Al share a look. Neither of them believe Ed that he is not keeping this child. Roy reserved judgement. It was hard to read Edward sometimes, though Roy was better at it than most people. Ed seemed torn on what he should do.

Pinako interrupted then, to hold out am X-ray in the light. "Well, the good news is that there is no jagged edges, or risk of infection. That bad news is what remains is the internal anchors of your housing. We can remove it, and we probably should, but I don't want to put that kind of strain on your body. I propose a series of smaller surgeries as opposed to one long surgery. For the removal of the chest screws, we will need the operating theater here, but for the smaller bolts we could do them anywhere so it may be easier to come visit us in Resembool than to book a surgery here in Central. We can plan it out so you can just have a list to help you prepare." Ed nodded, Roy though realized that he needed to speak with Ed privately what he was planning because it didn't sound like Ed intended to return home but he also hadn't said anything yet about what he intended to do. Roy decided it would wait a bit when Ed looked more stressed than before. Ed needed a break to come to terms with everything that had happened.

Hogsmeade

Hogs Head

1:00 am

In the cover of darkness they slipped through the streets and into the tavern. One by one they arrived, ignoring the bartender's increasing annoyance. The tavern was otherwise empty, having closed early this evening to allow for this meeting, but that didn't mean he liked having to close early.

Dumbledore had arrived first, his dark blue robes and silver beard standing out even among their people. He was seated in a comfortable armchair sipping a glass of wine, when the next guest arrived. He and the barman had not said a word to each other, but were glaring opening at each other. Remus Lupin arrived next, in tattered brown robes and shaggy brown blond hair. His had tired sad eyes and an equally tired smile. He settled into chair near Dumbledore and ordered a cup of tea, not wanting to drink tonight.

Minerva McGonagall arrived a few minutes later, slipping through the door as a cat before returning to her human form, she had aged greatly the last year, and Dumbledore felt terrible he had been dragged into it. The final member of their party arrived, a young auror named Kingsley Shacklebolt. He was a rather tall young man, having graduated just last year, and finished his auror training a little over a month ago.

The air in the tavern was thick with dread. It had been just a few months since the war ended, and they were still in the process of sorting out what had happened. The Potters were dead, betrayed by someone they trusted. Voldemort had been defeated, but at a terrible price, and though the wizarding world celebrated the members of the Order of the Phoenix also mourned.

Dumbledore had warned them all it was unlikely that Voldemort was completely defeated, and they all believed him. Though they had all carried on with their lives and the Order was no longer active, those who had survived still waited for the call to return to battle. Most of their members had died or been permanently injured, only a handful remained.

Shacklebolt had not been a member during the war, being too young, but he had been recruited by his mentor Alistair Moody shorty after his training began. So far, his primary assignment was to keep an ear out for anything that could be useful or troublesome to the Order. Something had come up just yesterday that he felt the leadership needed to know so he requested this meeting.

After they were all certain that they would not be overheard from anyone including the bar owner who was also a member of the Order, Kingley cleared his throat. " Yesterday morning an unusual phenomenon occurred over the hidden lands. For approximately two minutes, they were no longer shielded. The shielding went back up, stronger than ever, before returning to their normal levels."

"I'm sorry. The hidden lands?" Remus Lupin interrupted in his usual soft voice. "I have never heard of this."

"An area sits between Europe and Asia that is hidden from all, both Muggles and Wizards, and very few are aware of its existence. For several centuries it has been divided. Very few inside Cselkcess have ever left the continent. We Wizards are only aware of it thanks to Nicolas Flamel, who originated in Xerxes centuries ago. The magic hiding it have made it possible, only those who know where it is can find it." Dumbledore said calmly.

"The magic barrier folded for a few minutes, the dome came down, and it set off alarms down in the Department of Mysteries." Kingley continued. "There are wizards there still, despite rumors to the contrary, mostly on the other edges, almost none in Amestris according to the incomplete map that formed for unregistered… one registered stood out which is why I called this meeting. Harry Potter is alive."

A collective gasp filled the room, even Dumbledore seemed surprised. Dumbledore frowned as he began putting it together and sighed as the others asked how this could be. "I believe I may know what has happened. If I am correct, the safest place to leave the boy is exactly where he is for now. He is masked by the protective magic, and we have no idea who may still be looking for him, but rest assured they are indeed he is still after the boy. When he grows older we will go for him, and offer him a chance to return to our world. Regardless, though we need to keep this information away from the Death Eaters. One day the boy will be famous, the sole survivor of a killing curse". They were all happy, though still in a bit of shock to learn there was a hidden land big enough to hide half a dozen countries and it wasn't covered in any of their textbooks and they have to share.

They all agreed that this was the miracle they had been hoping for but none expected, and now they had to remain calm and keep quiet about the whole thing. The meeting adjourned shortly thereafter, after all of them vowing to protect the information they had learned today and keep it from anyone outside the Order.

As Dumbledore and McGonagall walked slowly back to the castle in the distance, she seemed preoccupied. He asked her after they had left the town behind what was disturbing her. "We know nothing of the ones who have the boy. Are we certain that he will be safe? If we were to retrieve him he would be celebrated, any number of homes would be open to him and surely we could place him inside the Order to keep him safe."

"He will be famous for something he does not remember, celebrated and honored. He is better off raised away from all this until he is ready. He will be safe until he is needed." Dumbledore said. This did not comfort her and it was evident in her scowl so with a sigh he continued. "To lay rest to your concern, we will send someone to check on his care and report back. Should he seem unhappy or endangered we will retrieve him, but if he is well cared for as I suspect we will leave him alone. Agreed?"

"Yes Sir."


	15. A Reasonable Solution to Both Their Problems

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Do you want to know a secret? No sharing with anyone." Ling said quietly to the baby. " I would give anything for a son like you. Your father is so incredibly lucky to have you, and that baby over there even if he's not admitting it about that little guy yet. I've seen your dad and he will love him as much as he loves you. Just give him time… I'll never have children of my own. It was the price of greed. I can't tell anyone, but it hurts. It hurts a lot. I would love to have just one child to call my own. I'm not greedy enough to want fifty. I would be happy with one."

A Reasonable Solution to Both Their Problems

Central City

Room 105

4:00pm

Ling had finally made his way back to the room occupied by his sister and bodyguard. His own bed had been added after he had insisted and pulled the prince card. It was not actually something he did very often during this journey, and not one he enjoyed using, but he did not want to be separated from the girls when they were both being treated.

He himself was completely uninjured thanks to Greed. The presence of Greed had become so much a part of him it hurt that the being was gone. He knew that wouldn't make sense to most people, maybe not to anyone, so he didn't say it out loud, but he missed Greed a lot. Greed was his friend. It wasn't an ideal relationship, but then Ling didn't have any ideal relationships. He read a great deal about 'normal' friendships and families, but he thought for most of his life they were like fairy tales.

Coming here. Meeting the Elrics and their family and friends changed that. He was honored that Ed finally let him in, had counted him among their friends. He would miss them all when he returned to Xing. He was spending as much time in their room as they would allow for that reason. He also admitted to himself that he rather liked the babies. He had never really considered children. Now though, he had learned he likes taking care of these tiny humans. An irony considering the conversation he had just endured with his doctor.

One that could complicate his claim to the throne if it got out too. He hadn't known, couldn't have known what the price of hosting Greed would be when it happened, not that he had been given a lot of choice. At the time, his choices were embrace it and form a symbiotic relationship or fight it and disappear. Now though. A part of him, one that no one would ever see, raged against this.

It wasn't fair. He wanted children. He loved children. Now that he had hosted a being that gave him the key to survive and save his clan had also cost him the future of his clan. He would never sire a child. Never hold a tiny human of his own flesh and blood. He wanted it now. He never considered it before but once the option was gone, it was no longer a duty but a desire.

Lan Fan was looking at him in that way she had when she knew something was wrong, but he had hidden it so well she would not mention it so as not to alert their enemies to a weakness. He didn't know what to say to her though. Everything they'd gone through, had spent years working for, could be lost if this knowledge got out. He had to come up with a plan to cover this before he could even consider telling anyone about it… except… except maybe he could talk to Edward.

Edward was good at keeping things quiet and he understood the price of sacrifice. Edward might understand Ling's feelings of loss, but not regret. Ed had been Greed's friend as much as Ling's and he'd been the only one who could separate them in his mind and see them as one as well. He might even have a solution to the problem at hand because he was a brilliant alchemist, and this had been a side effect of alchemy so if there was a cure, he would need an alchemist to fix it.

Meanwhile, he checked on his sister, who was recovering nicely, and Lan Fan, who Winry had agreed to look over once they finished Ed's surgery. Ling had volunteered to come in and help with the babies while Ed was in surgery so that they would not have to be sent to the nursery. He had just come in to inform the girls of that, and check on their progress when his doctor had pulled him aside. Now he needed to hurry or he wouldn't make it back in time.

"I am going to go babysit for Ed, but I wanted to make sure you were alright first. Since you seem fine, I have to go or they won't get to their timeslot for the operating theater. I'll be back." Ling rushed out in a chipper tone before leaving the room again and returning to the one next door.

103

4:30 pm

Al was sleeping again, and the littlest one was as well. Yuery was sitting with Ling as Ling read a book to him and waited for word on Ed. According to the Rockbelles this shouldn't take long, an hour at the most, then Ed would be back in the room. However, he wasn't going to be allowed to lift Yuery for a few days.

The solution was immediate. Roy was being released at five, he would take Yuery with him when he left. Ed was okay with this, as much as he ever was, reasoning that Roy hadn't gotten to really see Yuery in so long that it was only fair to let him do it. So Ling was spending as much time as possible cuddling the boy before he was taken away.

"Do you want to know a secret? No sharing with anyone." Ling said quietly to the baby. " I would give anything for a son like you. Your father is so incredibly lucky to have you, and that baby over there even if he's not admitting it about that little guy yet. I've seen your dad and he will love him as much as he loves you. Just give him time… I'll never have children of my own. It was the price of greed. I can't tell anyone, but it hurts. It hurts a lot. I would love to have just one child to call my own. I'm not greedy enough to want fifty. I would be happy with one."

Yuery patted his arm, before turning the page of the book and pointing at a colorful cat on the page. Ling smiled down at him as he returned to reading, unaware that Alphonse had heard the entire exchange. Just as they finished the book, Colonel Mustang returned to the room, this time in street clothes and joined by Hawkeye. He was a bit early, but Ling wasn't going to complain. Instead he kissed the baby of the forehead, assuring himself the spirit had not returned. He then handed Yuery over to Mustang.

Ling then moved over to the unnamed baby with the intent of holding him until someone made him give the child back. He picked up the baby and snuggled him to his chest. Ling knew what this child had been, but he himself had been the same for a while. He hoped that it wasn't the reason Ed kept denying that he was going to keep the baby. If this child was truly going to get a fresh start, they had to look passed his past. Especially since, unlike Ling, it was unlikely this baby would remember any of it.

Al had 'woken' when Mustang came in, and now Roy was cheerfully chatting with the boy about house hunting. Roy had called his mother earlier, and she had informed him that two of the houses that she had looked at a few months ago were still available, so he was going to look at them before checking into a hotel with Yuery.

Ed was wheeled back in a few minutes later, his shoulder covered in bandages, but completely alert. Winry had already slipped away to examine Lan Fan, but Pinako came in with Ed. After a nurse helped him situate himself on the bed, Roy held tight to Yuery so Ed could kiss him good bye. Yuery cheerfully waved and yelled 'bye bye' as Roy took him from the room, his voice fading down the hall. Roy would bring the baby for another visit tomorrow but wanted to give Ed least a night before Yuery was allowed to climb on his dad. He also wanted to try to secure a house as quickly as possible.

Ling continued to hold the baby quietly in the corner, and Ed hadn't asked for him yet which was unusual so the pain must have been bad. Pinako seemed to agree because she ordered an IV pain medication for him. He scoffed and protested as the nurse left to go collect the medication. Pinako then turned to Ling and addressed him directly for the second or third time ever. "Kid, why don't you go check on your sister. You can take the baby with you. Edward needs to rest and he won't with the baby in the room."

Ed scoffed as Ling agreed and walked over to Ed to let him say good bye to the baby. Afterward, Ling left as the nurse came in with the medication. She set up his IV line as Ed steadfastly looked away, held in place only by the threat to tie him down if he were to fight them. Pinako and the nurse left a few minutes later, Pinako promising to be back after she ate.

Al smiled at his brother once they were alone. He had been thinking since he had overheard Ling, and years of traveling with his brother had trained his mind to come to solutions with in moments. Ed was even faster, though it did lead to the occasional accusation of Ed being too impulsive, and that was true at least seventy-five percent of the time.

"Are you high yet or still thinking clearly?" Al asked after his brother smiled over at him.

"I'm still fine. You have maybe five minutes before I'm not to be trusted." Ed said.

"I think I may know what to do about the baby. If you're sure you aren't keeping him."

"Okay . Hit me." Ed said with a grin, and a sigh of relief. What to do with the baby had been weighing on him, and he was beginning to wonder what exactly he was supposed to do with this tiny person who looked up at him in such a way that had once led to him keeping such a tiny person before. He couldn't though.

He couldn't ask everyone to set their lives aside to help him with a newborn. He couldn't add the pressure of another child to his household, not with Yuery developing magic and Alphonse looking at months of physical therapy, and Dad recovering. His own recovery either. He couldn't ask his Dad to try to love a baby who, in a prior life, ruined his Dad's. Not that his Dad seemed to even think about that with they way he held the baby.

He couldn't just send the baby away to strangers or an orphanage either, because he could never do that to any child and because someone needed to be on watch in case it didn't work long term. Ed didn't have any idea on what to do, so if Al had thought of something Ed was relieved.

"I think you should let Ling raise him." Al began. "Hear me out before you reject the idea. I know he doesn't really know what he's doing but neither did you to begin with, and he'll have help. He's bonded with the baby Ed, and I think he would jump at the idea of keeping him. Now I know it may be complicated with him becoming Emperor but maybe Dad can fix up the paperwork like you claim he did for you."

"That might work. We don't know that he wants a baby though Al, and even if he does do we really know he would take this baby as his own?" Ed said. "I would have to talk to him about it. I mean it would be great because they would be able to tell right away if Pride is dormant rather than gone."

"He would. Be happy to adopt the baby and claim it for his own, in fact it would fix his problem too. He learned this morning he can't have kids, according to what he was saying to Yuery when he thought I was asleep. We can't let him know that we know that part because he's like you with his pride, I wasn't going to mention it at all but for your concern.

" I see." Ed said thoughtfully. Like his brother he was already weighing all of the available information and felt that this was the best solution for everyone, but he needed a way to talk Ling into it.

Al did think it would take much to talk Ling into it after the things he had been saying to the baby, but it may overcomplicate his bid to the throne and Ed wasn't going to do that. If it came to it he would keep the second boy and figure out the rest later. Right now though, his brain was getting muddled.

Room 103

The next morning

8:00 am

Ling was reluctant to return the child as he crept back into his friend's room. Apparently some of Greed may linger because he wanted to insist on keeping this child for himself, though he had no right to claim him. He couldn't think of a reasonable way to breech the subject, though somewhere around midnight he had decided if Ed was really determined to not keep the child, then Ling would find a way to bring it up rather than see the child sent elsewhere. He promised himself if Ed was keeping this boy, Ling would find a way to shove the feeling away and let it go, but he loved this boy. He wanted to keep him. He'd gone through the night thinking of ways to try to convince his father and countrymen that this child was truly his so no one would fight him over it. He hadn't come up with a reasonable answer yet but he was sure he could given enough time.

Ling was surprised to find both Ed and Al awake, sitting up and smiling at him when he walked into the room. Ed had insisted on not having a second dose of medication so that his brain would be clear when Ling arrived. He had been hoping Ling would come before their Dad returned so they could talk him into it before arranging the paperwork that would cement the plan into place. Ling smiled back, as he sat down in the chair between their beds, still not returning the child yet, but close enough either Elric could claim him easily.

"Ling. I have a proposition for you, a favor to ask really." Ed began with his smile still in place.

"Yes?" Ling asked curiously.

"I've noticed that you are rather attached to him," Ed began gesturing toward the baby in Ling's arms. " I don't think you want to give him back. I know how that feels. Anyway, between recovering from all this and being technically homeless… I already have one child who I'm failing right now Ling, and this one needs so much attention."

"Are- Are you suggesting I adopt him?" Ling asked, barely daring to hope he was understanding correctly, because this was what he wanted and rarely had Ling ever gotten what he wanted without a fight. Something he had in common with Ed, so perhaps Ed had known before Ling had a chance to ask like he suggested to begin with.

"I'm suggesting you make him your son. If you agree all the paperwork will claim you sired him. We can't have anyone trying to trace Bradley's reign and coming across him." Ed said, before taking a deep breath and Al nodding encouragingly. " My Dad. Roy. He can fix up the paperwork so no one can find a fault in it. He did it for me. He could do it for you."

"I don't think I need or want to know what you are talking about. A secret is best kept by not sharing. In fact, if I agree to this, no one outside of this room…and Lan Fan and Mei… and your Dad, can ever know. It would make him an heir, no one could ever think there was a way to contest that." Ling said, and when the boys nodded, then Ling breathed a sigh of relief. "Then I agree. I need to go talk to the girls, but I will be back before your Dad gets here." With that he walked out of the room, the baby somehow lighter in his arms now that he didn't have to hand him back.

11:00 am

Roy had arrived with Yuery and Riza a few minutes earlier, and was surprised to see both Lan Fan and Mei in the boys room along with Ling. Everyone sat down in chairs, as Ed turned to Ling and assured him that Riza was trustworthy. Ling seemed a bit stiff but nodded. Roy raised an eyebrow at the boys, but otherwise ignored their strange behavior as something they would explain when they were ready. After all he had learned years ago pushing Ed had the opposite affect of what he desired if he was wanting honest information.

"So, I picked a new house for us. It's bigger than the last one, which is why I turned it down to begin with. It is a bit pretentious for a colonel, but for a general it was a good fit. I understand of course if you were making different plans because we haven't had a chance to talk anything over yet which we need to do as soon as we can. I brought pictures."

Ed took the pictures and flipped through what appeared to be a much larger home. He nodded along for a moment, before setting the photos down and said "Dad, I want to hear all about the house, and I agree that we need to talk about all that going to happen next, but we need a favor from you and its time sensitive."

"Go ahead." Roy said, relieved the kids were getting to it whatever it was right away.

"Ling is taking the baby back to Xing with him. He's going to need paperwork to say that he and Lan Fan are the parents of the child and the he and Lan Fan married at least eight weeks before he was born…correct? Eight weeks?... Can you arrange it?" Ed asked as Ling nodded along.

Roy opened his mouth, then closed it…it was actually the best idea they could have come up with, and he was a tad surprised he hadn't considered the possibility, especially after the amount of time Ling had been spending in their room. He could contact his mother now and she should have everything quickly, very quickly since it was local and everyone involved was a real person still standing right in this room.

"I will have it arranged by tomorrow. Does he have a name then?" Roy asked expectantly.

"Ping Yao." Ling said, and Lan Fan nodded.

Mei was surprisingly calm about the whole thing, had she chosen to, she could have used this whole scandal to wrest the throne from her brother, because he had confessed to Lan Fan that he would not be able to provide her more children should she agree to this. Mei instead remained loyal to the brother who had vowed to protect her tribe. He wasn't sure she was truly loyal to him or that she believed the paperwork would be perfect and Ling would take her attempt out on her tribe. Either way she would remain quiet and her people were to be absorbed into the Yao clan, raising their standing greatly.

Everyone walked away pleased with the solution, and Ed was okay with the house Roy had picked. Al had fallen in love with it through pictures. Roy was hopeful that they have peace for a while, at least until Ed could out that he was now Colonel Elric instead of Major.

Roy would have the paperwork the day after tomorrow, at which time they would finally head back to their home to claim the throne.


	16. The Long Road Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fact that Edward Elric was wearing a formal uniform was not lost on those who know him. He looked very uncomfortable and was frowning. His arm was still in a sling as well.

The Long Road Home

Central City

10:00

Mustang- Elric House

Roy had picked Edward up from the hospital this morning to show him the new house. He had tried to get the boys involved in choosing it, but neither boy was interested. This concerned Roy. He hoped it wasn't a sign that the boys no longer wanted to stay with him. They had both seemed okay with him officially adopting them, but perhaps they weren't and he had overstepped. He needed to talk to them, especially Ed.

As they drove, Roy tried to think of the best way to bring it up, but he was drawing a blank. Edward was staring out the window pensively in that way that meant he was thinking deeply. Roy loathed to interrupt him. He also would prefer to avoid having a private conversation when they were being driven by a private he was not overly familiar with. Riza and Yuery were waiting for them back at the house.

Ed's arm was still in a sling to allow his arm to heal from its surgery, he was otherwise recovered and had been released. He was torn on the matter. On one hand he was relieved to be free of the hospital. On the other hand Al was going to be there a few more weeks, and it would probably be even longer before he would be able to walk more than a few steps.

Ed was concerned about Al's recovery. He wasn't worried so much about his own, he was used to impossible odds and had never failed to beat them, so something as simple as giving his shoulder a couple weeks to heal then start building up it's muscle tone was no big deal to him.

They pulled up in front of the new house, and it took Roy gently prodding Ed's left shoulder to gain his attention. He climbed out quickly after that, relieved to be standing in the fresh air. Roy joined him seconds later as the car pulled away. Roy smiled at Ed, and noticed for the first time how tall the boy had gotten. He now stood at the bridge of Roy's nose and at sixteen it seemed probable the boy could grow taller than him.

The house, Ed noted, looked almost exactly the same as their old house with it's redbrick with white trim and green shutters. A covered porch stood in front of the building with a cobblestone walkway leading to the porch from the white wooden gate they now stood in front of as they looked at the front.

Flowerbeds framed the walkway and stood on either side of the stairs, the rest of the yard was just lawn with no decoration. The house seemed bigger than they old one, but Ed might just be being difficult. He wasn't sure he wanted a BIGGER house, but it was done now so he needed to adjust to it. He was happy the place was still going to be in his home, and he wasn't about to admit he'd been a bit afraid Roy- Dad had changed his mind.

They walked into a foyer that was near identical as their old home as were all the downstairs rooms, aside from two additions one was a main floor guest suite, that had clearly bed outfitted for Al so he wouldn't have to try the stairs this early in his recovery, and the second room was a really large library. Roy stopped Ed at the doorway. He didn't want to lose the boy before the tour was over.

Ed could tell that was going to be his favorite room in the house, he didn't need to see anything else. He was convinced. The kitchen was a close second. They then made their way upstairs before Ed could run back to the books, but he was distracted when they arrived in the playroom where they finally found Riza and Yuery. The lay out of the bedrooms were again very similar to their old house, though there was two extra bathrooms. The playroom, like the library, was completely new from the other house's design though. Yuery seemed very pleased with the large collection of toys already located in there and currently all over the floor.

The men joined Yuery and Riza, sitting on the cushioned window seat, while Riza remained in the rocking chair. She had started to stand, but was waived back into her seat. Roy then asked, now that they had no risk of being overheard. "Now that you've completed your goal, what do you want to do?"

Ed frowned for a few minutes. "I don't want to be a tool. I don't want to be used like you and Major Armstrong, and all of you were. I want this country to get better though, and I agree that you can make that happen. I heard on the radio Grumman is going to stay fuhrer now. Do we trust him?"

"We do. He's my grandfather." Riza said. "He shares our ideals for this country, and frankly he is Mustang's biggest supporter outside the team. He wants Mustang to take over for him."

"Okay. So he's not going to be starting any unnecessary wars or anything terrible to our people. Good. The other problem is I don't want to travel so much anymore. I mean I can't promise I'll be able to stay home all the time, but I need to be home most of the time, for him."

"Actually, that's good. I was going to talk to you about that." Roy said with a smile. "Does that mean you're staying here in the city even if you turn in your watch?"

"… I think so. At least for awhile. We will have to head to Resembool for a while for the rest of my treatment, but overall I think so. Maybe. Even if we go though we would visit you as often as you wanted to see us, you are our dad after all. Unless you changed your mind."

"I would never change my mind about that! I want you and Alphonse and Yuery to stay here with me for as long as you want to be here. If it were up to me I don't think I'd ever want you to leave."

Ed smiled at that, and mostly believed him. He then sighed. "I need to access the library. I want to help rebuild it all. Can I do either of those things if I turn in the watch? Realistically. Probably. It would be easier to keep it though. I always intended to turn it in as soon as I fixed Al. I don't know what to do."

"You need to know, before you make up your mind, that they promoted you. They promoted everyone who was involved in Promised Day" Roy said, and Ed stiffened. He had never wanted to rise in the ranks. He never really liked that he was a Major as it was. He knew though that if he stayed he would have to take promotions sooner or later. He just thought it would be later. "They made you a Colonel. You will get your own team, but you would still report directly to me. It means you would spend most of your time at a desk. Or overseeing the labs."

"The labs?"

"We need someone I trust to ensure everything Bradley was allowing is gone. I'm promoted as well, but I remain in charge of the State Alchemist program. I could assign the labs to someone else, but you would know right away if something was not adding up." Roy said. He mentally cringed at what he was asking his son to do, but it was the safest way to stomp out the last of Bradley's influence.

"Once I've cleared them? What then." Ed asked as he thought of the same horrors that made Roy cringe.

"Once we've assured the city is stable, we will be transferring out East for a year. We need to restore Ishbal. After that, your contract will be up for renewal, so you can either return to Central with me or go elsewhere if you desire, or retire if that is your wish. Two more years is what I'm asking of you. To help me restore our country. After that we will renegotiate. " Roy said simply.

"I need to talk to Al and Winry before I agree to anything. I can't decide something like this without them." Ed said, already knowing what he wanted to choose, but would talk to the others before saying.

"Fair enough. Know this though Edward. This is your home. Even if you turn in your watch. Even if you go back to Resembool or Rush Valley. This is your home and it's always open to you."

Ed thanked him and smiled as they briefly hugged. Ed wasn't used to hugs aside from those he gave his son. Most of the people he loved rarely hugged. He wanted to increase them because this was more comforting than he wanted to admit.

Room 103

1:30pm

Al was bored. Everyone else had now been released, and he was alone for the moment. He knew that they wouldn't leave him alone for long, but he was still bored. Winry should be back in a few minutes, she went to see Granny off at the train station. Ed should be back a few minutes after that.

Ling and Lan Fan had brought Mei and Ping by to say good bye before they left earlier, they were headed south and then they would take a boat back to Xing instead of attempting the desert. It had been foolish when they came this way, it would be suicide with automail and a newborn. Mustang had gotten them all the paperwork as promised. Mei had cried and promised to come for a visit.

The biggest problem, as far as Al was concerned, was he wasn't allowed out of bed at all. He wasn't used to any of this. He was tired all the time and would fall asleep randomly much to his frustration. Then there was hunger. He had been aware there was hunger. He'd seen his brother and Ling hungry often enough, and had thought at the time they were melodramatic. The first time he was hungry since the return though he decided they were actually rather well contained, because his stomach had hurt. He had been terrified there was something wrong and that he was going to die.

Luckily Ed had been awake and aware when it had happened, and he had been quick to assure Al that everything was fine as he called for a nurse. They had allowed Al only broth at the time. Since then, they had increased his diet to allow milk and bread. He was also allowed to drink as much water as he wanted now, unlike those first couple of days.

Now he was bored, and wished he was recovered already. He needed to ask for books. Books was how he had combated boredom for the last four years, and it had always worked well. Before he could let his mind wander to far Winry and Ed arrived. They both must have read his mind, because they both had a bag of books with them. Al squealed in delight, and felt no shame for it.

Ed chuckled at his brother and rubbed his head affectionately as Winry sat down. At once both of them said they needed to talk. Al sighed heavily as he lovingly patted the book bag and set them aside. He should save them for when he was alone and bored anyway.

Winry and Ed both started to talk at once, before laughing and gesturing for the other to start. Finally, Al took the lead by suggesting Winry go first because Ed always took longer. Ed agreed that was fair so they both looked at Winry.

"Okay well, we both know you aren't retiring Ed. You may think you are right now, but your not. It's just, you're not going to be happy unless you're helping people and protecting them and so you will end up staying so just go ahead and admit it to yourself at least." Winry said with a smile. "I've been looking into it, and I'm going to open a studio here in Central once my training ends, because I miss you guys and I don't want to miss anything else."

"Oh wow, that great Winry!" Al said happily.

"You're right, I am staying. I admit it to both of you, but please avoid squealing" Ed said with a smile. "I want to be near my Dad and I don't want to uproot Yu again so soon. I promised Dad two years to help with Ishbal and setting up the new lab standards."

" Okay. Well, then I guess we are all staying in the city for a while." Al said with a smile, and the other two nodded.

"Winry." Ed said after a moment. "I'm not mad, but please tell me exactly what happened when you were supposed to leave with Yuery."

"Hmm…Well actually it was really strange. We were stopped right in the middle of no where because they said the lines were all blocked and the border closed. We weren't that close to the border yet really, but when I pulled out the map we were a fifteen minute walk from the circle you drew for me. I snuck off the train to at least get over that line, but I didn't make it so I came back to the train after it was all over. The train then was ordered to turn around and just redeposit everyone where they had gotten on, with word coming in that we could all exchange our tickets for as early as the next day. I've never heard of anything like that before." Winry said thoughtfully.

"I really do need to talk to Dad about all that, I wonder if they closed all the borders? It doesn't matter now I suppose but still. How many people were involved that are still free is something we need to consider." Ed said thoughtfully.

"That's exactly why I knew you wouldn't really retire Ed. I knew you can't just walk away when people still need you. Just please don't lock me out anymore." Winry said.

"I can't promise to never keep something from you Win, sometimes there are just things we can't talk about…or won't talk about… but I can promise to do better about being open with you." Ed said. "I know that's not what you want to hear, but it's the best I can offer. I'm sorry."

"Okay." Winry said after a moment. She remembered back to Hughes saying something similar to her, and when Mustang had kept things from Ed. He was being honest. In their line of work there were secrets. She was going to have to accept that or walk away, and she didn't want to walk away.

Hogwarts

Headmasters Office

Scotland

11:00pm

Minerva McGonagall made her way to the Headmasters office, having received a summons just after dinner to arrive after her last round of bed checks. No students were out of bounds, so she arrived on time much to her relief.

This was her first year as Head of Gryffindor House, and so far it had been a tad more stressful than she had assumed, but Dumbledore assured her that she was doing well. Therefore she had no idea why she was being summoned but had to assume it was Order business.

Dumbledore was awaiting her arrival at his desk, writing something that he quickly stowed away when she entered. He gestured for her to sit but remained silent until she had. "Tea? Brandy?" Dumbledore asked by way of greeting.

"No. Thank you." Minerva responded.

"Well, let's get to it then." Dumbledore sighed before pulling a different letter out of his desk. " In regard to the issue of concern we discussed the other evening in town. I have made arrangements for further investigation, I have sent someone to look into thing discreetly. Once we have a better understanding of the situation I have several option in place. "

"Of course, sir."

"Why I am bothering you with the matter, is I may require your services for a few days this summer holiday if all is going well." Dumbledore responded with a small smile as she nodded, pleased to be involved in some way.

Minerva agreed right away, and left feeling much better over the entire situation now that she felt it was being taken seriously. With that issue out of the way, he returned his attention to his letter. He had been working very late the last few nights to arrange everything to send someone in to look into things in a location they all knew next to nothing about.

Once he finished his letter, he sealed it and set out toward town. Once he was beyond the school's boundary however, he apparated. He had some arrangements that simply had to be done in person. There was much to do, and he would prefer to do it quickly and quietly.

Central City

Central Command

9:00

Grumman Official Inauguration

The fact that Edward Elric was wearing a formal uniform was not lost on those who know him. He looked very uncomfortable and was frowning. His arm was still in a sling as well. He had flat refused to wear the uniform that declared his promotion, insisting it wasn't in effect until he returned for medical leave. An exasperated Roy was simply grateful he had gotten Ed to wear a uniform at all.

Roy did wear the stars of his promotion to Major General. His dress uniform was clearly new, though Ed's appeared to be. They stood side by side on the stairs behind the ceremony, Grumman had insisted, as well as both Colonel Armstrong and General Armstrong (who had been recalled to Central for the ceremony, much to her annoyance.). Grumman intended to hand out accommodations after his own ascension ceremony.

Winry stood in the front of the crowd with Yuery in her arms, Izumi and Sig Curtis beside her. Alphonse wasn't permitted to leave the hospital yet, so Ed felt bad about coming, but he insisted it was fine. The radio would be covering the event after all.

Ed couldn't be bothered to pay attention to the ceremony itself, it had been long and boring, he barely paid attention to them handing out metals afterward. What he cared about was keeping an eye on the crowd for trouble, and the Ball afterward. He cared about the Ball because Dad had promised there would be a great deal of food.

It was to begin in a couple of hours, after they all went inside and signed a bunch of paperwork, which Ed guessed he was going to have to get used to now that he had agreed to stay. Not for the first time, he wondered what exactly he had gotten himself into.

Dad had reminded him that first and foremost he had agreed to stay for the library access. Now that Dad was promoted, he could given Ed the authorization to access the magic section. It also meant a steady income to provide for his son, and helping his Dad achieve his goal. Equivalent Exchange. His Dad had helped him reach his own goal, he needed to help his new father in exchange. It's how the world worked, how he lived his life. Even if he no longer had faith in everything remaining balanced he had to keep his morality as long as possible in a world that would strip it away.

Grumman pinned the medal to his chest and whispered. "Don't look so stressed my boy. We won. Relax for a minute." Moving on before Ed could think of anything to say to that.

Dad had warned him the old man was a bit crazy, but Ed had never actually spoken to him and wasn't sure he wanted to. Dad trusted the man and that was enough for now, but he didn't have to be friendly either.


	17. Return of Alphonse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I'm keeping Hawkeye, Falman, Fuery. I am searching for a fourth to complete my office staff." Roy said. "I'm not overly concerned with my staffing at the moment. I do still have a couple of reliable people given to me after the transfers, they weren't swept up in the cull."
> 
> "Do they have names."
> 
> "psh. No one has a name until they prove themselves. Remember that." Roy said. "No they do, but I still need them vetted by Madame before I'm certain I'm keeping them. Ask again next week."

Return of Alphonse

Mustang-Elric Residence

9:00am

Al had been released by the doctors, who felt there was little they could do for him that his family couldn't. Ed was still on medical leave, so he would be home full time with his brother and son, and Winry had reluctantly allowed Ed to wait further surgery so his shoulder could handle helping his brother. She had returned to Rush Valley to finish the last six weeks of her training.

Dad had taken the day off to help get Al settled, but tomorrow it would be just the three of them. Ed was confident he could handle it. all He'd been through worse than lifting his eighty pound brother with an injured shoulder while wrangling an almost two year old and a couple of pets… but then there were the chores, and his studies, and Al's treatments. He was sure it would be fine.

Dad and Al arrived just as Ed managed to wrangle Yuery into his pants. Yuery heard the front door and screaming "Yeye!" ran from the living room leaving his frustrated father holding the shirt he had been attempting to squeeze over the boy's head. Ed sighed as he stood and followed his son, shirt still in his fist.

Yuery had climbed into the seat next to Al in the wheelchair and was babbling happily as he played with his uncle's hair. Roy was standing behind them, hanging up the coats and smirking at the boy's antics. The cat and dog wandered into the foyer long enough to see the commotion before continuing into the kitchen.

"Hey Al! How was the drive?" Ed asked as he leaned over to force the shirt over his child's head.

"It was fine. Bumpier than I expected." Al said with a smile. Roy was by his side in an instant as Ed frowned.

"I apologize Alphonse, we attempted to drive as carefully as possible, are you uncomfortable? Do you need to lay down for a while?" Dad asked as Ed looked him over and moved the baby off his lap.

"No, no, I'm fine. I just want to see the new house. And hold my nephew." Al said. He knew his dad and brother were just worried about him but he hoped they would stop coddling him soon.

They gave him a quick tour of the ground floor, ending with the guest suite they had reoutfitted as a temporary room for Al, until he was strong enough to go up and down the stairs. Al liked it well enough, it had a regular double sized bed and night table and dresser. They had added a desk and bookshelf already filled with books. Then they had widened the doorway for his chair, placed rails around the room for him to grip, and redone the bathroom to help him use the toilet by himself. He would still need help to bathe.

The room had been done to the doctor's orders, and they had agreed to allow a visiting nurse three days a week. She would arrive for the first time tomorrow. Dad was debating hiring a maid as well. He was no more comfortable with strangers in his house than his boys were, but he had to return to work, and Ed was going to need help even if he refused to admit it. He decided to have his mother find someone for him.

They settled into the dining room to eat breakfast after the tour, Al insisting on having Yuery sit on his lap and share his plate. In return, Ed insisted on adding extra food to Al's plate, twice as much as Yuery could possibly eat. Roy laughed but otherwise didn't interfere or comment. He was enjoying watching his boys act like normal kids for a change. Well as normal as circumstances ever allowed with their lives.

"Dad. I have what? Six months leave. When I return, so I return to your team or what?" Ed asked.

"Hmm. Yes, I have been meaning to talk to you about that. I already mentioned you will be getting your own team. You WILL be reporting to me, but no you will have your own office and staff. I'm assigning as many people as possible that you already know as your personal staff. You will be taking my old office, once they finish the repairs and you return. I'm a floor above you. Roy said, before sighing. "We have time to go over it all well before you return to duty. Enjoy this time with Yu and Al for now. I am still ironing out details to make this as easy as possible for you all. I have taken the liberty of ordering your access to the restricted section of the library as you requested. However, none of the books in there are allowed to leave the room, so you will have to leave Yuery with Gracia while you study. I suggest you go on therapy days while the nurse is with Al."

"Hmm. I'll consider it. I would like to meet them first before I leave my brother alone with him." Ed said as Al rolled his eyes.

"I am not helpless Brother. I can defend myself with a clap of the hands." Al said.

"You shouldn't have to Al. It's my job to protect you." Ed argued.

"And it's my job to protect you both." Roy added. Al and Ed both rolled their eyes at this but smiled at the reminder they were no longer alone in the world.

As soon as they were done eating, Dad insisted that Al for lay down for awhile after all the 'excitement'. Al agreed reluctantly assuming they still had work stuff to talk over that would be easier after they were locked away in the study. With that in mind he offered to let Yuery stay with him, and read to him for awhile. At first Ed resisted, but agreed once Al gave him a sad look.

Once they had left the room, and were safely out of hearing, Ed sighed. "I'm in trouble Dad. I had a hard enough time telling him no when he didn't have The Look. If he teaches that look to my son, I'm going to punch him right in his perfect face. Then I'll feel guilty for punching him, and where will we be?"

"It's alright Edward. Again, it's my job to take care of you now. That includes tell Al no." Roy said with a smirk.

"Good luck. He perfected that look years ago. He just hasn't had a chance to use it in awhile, but he's not at all rusty." Ed said as he patted him on the shoulder. "Anyway. About this nurse. Have you had them investigated?"

"I have my people on it as we speak." Roy said before inhaling deeply. "I am also hiring a maid."

"Wait, what?!"

"I am a general now. It is expected I have a house staff. If I don't hire at least a maid it will look like I am hiding something. With as shaky as everything is right now, it would be a terrible idea to allow anyone to think there is anything to hide. I need the people on my side if I want to lead this country in a couple of years."

"So, it has nothing to do with not trusting my ability to take care of the house and boys?" Ed said suspiciously.

"Edward why would I doubt what you have been doing all along." Roy assured, but not directly answering either.

"Are you sure it's a good idea?" Ed said. "What about sensitive materials you bring home?"

"Your home lab, the study, my office, and the library will all be off limits and alchemically locked. The bedrooms as well." Roy said. Just the public rooms and the garden will be attended by the staff."

"So you're hiring a gardener as well?"

"I already have. He's been attending the yard twice a week since I moved to Central. I'm surprised you never noticed."

"Must not do the back garden, I never saw anyone come through the house.

"I attend the private areas."

"Ah alright. It's your house." Ed said with a sigh.

"It's our house." Roy said running a hand through his hair. "We've been over this before. I am simply maintaining it and my image."

"Okay. It's fine. Just no one touches my research or Yuery's stuff."

"Agreed."

They made their way the rest of the way into the study, which was the most secure room in the house to have a private conversation, to finish discussing Edward's promotion. Franklin the Great was already in there, laying on the rug next to the fireplace. "I wonder where LazyCat wandered off to. She has to be in the house somewhere." Ed said absently while scratching the dog's ears.

"She's probably in the living room, glaring at the neighbor's cat again. It likes to sit on the walk, and she doesn't like it." Roy said.

"Cats are crazy." Ed said shaking his head. "So, who are you planning to assign me then?"

"Havoc will be returning to active duty at the end of next month. He will still have limitations for a few more months, I'm assigning him as your adjutant. I'm retaining Hawkeye of course. Falman and Breda have both requested returns to Central, which would you prefer?"

"Breda works well with Havoc. Falman tends to ignore him, and since he will be my Hawkeye it would be better if the staff respected him."

"True. Breda it is. Any other requests?"

"Hmm. Is Sheska available?"

"She can be."

"Yeah her. Umm. Maria Ross if she's returning to duty." Ed said tapping his chin. "Denny Broch. I think that should do it for office staff."

"Very well." Roy said with a sigh, relieved Ed hadn't fought him on it. "I will arrange it."

"What about your staff?"

"I'm keeping Hawkeye, Falman, Fuery. I am searching for a fourth to complete my office staff." Roy said. "I'm not overly concerned with my staffing at the moment. I do still have a couple of reliable people given to me after the transfers, they weren't swept up in the cull."

"Do they have names."

"psh. No one has a name until they prove themselves. Remember that." Roy said. "No they do, but I still need them vetted by Madame before I'm certain I'm keeping them. Ask again next week."

Mustang-Elric Residence

One Week Later

1:00pm

Madame had checked and double checked the nurse and maid. Hawkeye had checked and double checked them. Falman had triple checked them. The cat liked them, which meant more to Ed than the dog liking them because as far as he could tell, the dog liked everyone. Ed wished Ling was here to look them over but he'd just had to go and run off to fix his own country.

Begrudgingly, Ed let them in for the first official day of them working. He was going to keep an eye on them the whole time. Just because they passed the checks and the cat didn't mean he trusted them. Al thought he was being paranoid. Roy approved. Ed was annoyed.

Ms. Bella, as she asked the boys to address her, was an older woman with grey hair held back in a bun and grey eyes. She was rather small, which admittedly pleased Ed, though he himself was no longer small. She smelled faintly of cats, and lemon cleaner. Ed wondered if that was why the cat liked her.

She set to work scrubbing the counters in the kitchen, and he was distracted by the arrival of the nurse. The nurse, unlike the maid, was a tall thin younger woman with light brown hair held back with a ponytail and blue eyes. She introduced herself as Susan and went directly to work looking over his brother.

Ed hovered, he admitted it. Yuery was on his hip as he watched the woman go over his brother's vitals, and nod happily at his progress, before suggesting Al would do well with a short walk in the garden. Ed agreed happily, always willing to head outside with his brother and son.

Apparently though she intended to try to have Al walk. On his feet. In the garden without anything soft to fall on or hold onto. Al asked Ed to go bother the maid, because he was annoying. Ed huffed but returned to the kitchen where he could watch out of the window.

The maid, Ms Bella, was no longer in the kitchen, but the room now smelled strongly of lemons and everything looked shined and polished. Ed huffed before picking Yuery back up and going in search of the woman. He needed to be sure she wasn't going anywhere they had labeled out of bounds. Really, at this point Ed needed help to watch the people who were to help. Which seemed like a waste of time.

He found the maid in the living room dusting. Apparently she was very fast at cleaning because everything in here was also dusted already and she was now sweeping the floors. He nodded to her before asking if she had been informed which room not to bother cleaning. She nodded and informed him that she had been told to avoid anything locked and all of the bedrooms, though she was to clean the upstairs bathrooms.

Ed wandered around the ground floor then to make sure everything was locked, before he remembered his brother was still outside with a stranger. He rushed back to the kitchen, to find Al and the nurse sitting at the table while Al drank a large glass of juice. Ed shook his head. If these women were going to be here at the same time on a regular basis he was going to need back up.

After the women left for the day, and Al offered to play with Yuery for a while so Ed could make dinner, Ed was debating if it was wrong to ask Gracia and Elicia for a visit to help him keep an eye on those women the next time they were both supposed to come at the same time. Before he could decide how to handle it, Dad came in.

The four of them sat down for dinner, and Yuery distracted them all for a time by telling a very entertaining story about the cat. They understood most of what he said at this point, as close to his second birthday as he was.

"Ling wrote me recently." Ed said after Yuery returned his attention to his dinner. "He invited us to his coronation. I want to go, but Al can't travel that far yet and I don't want you to feel left out."

"You should go Brother. Ling is your friend, and politically it would look bad if you ignored the invitation." Al said as Roy nodded.

"I was invited as well. I already talked to the others, and Breda will be staying with Al while we're gone. My sister, Vanessa, will come over during the day so he isn't alone while Breda's at work. Gracia also agreed to stop by a few times to check up on him. Hawkeye is going with us, and is Winry, I talked to them this afternoon. As Alphonse said, it is not avoidable, politically, even with you on medical leave."

"Fine. Idiot Prince. When do we leave?I can call Teacher to see if they can come for a stay as well." Ed grumbled, but not as angry as he sounded.

"At the end of the week. It takes a couple of weeks to travel to Xing over water and I doubt you're any more comfortable with the idea of crossing the desert with a baby than I am."

"Are you sure you'll be okay Al?" Ed asked but already knowing he's not going to avoid going, nor does he really want to avoid it. He missed his foreign friends the last few weeks. Al rolled his eyes and insisted he would be fine.

It wasn't until Al had returned to his room after dinner that Ed voiced his concerns over the new staff and his issue with keeping an eye on both of them at the same time. Roy listened patiently. He understood Ed's concerns, especially after the year they'd had. If Ed felt extra security was necessary for the house, he would arrange it.

Ed sat on the floor playing with Yuery, while Roy was in a near by chair, attempting to catch up on some paperwork which would be easier in the study, but he hated the idea of wasting this time with his kids. He had missed them terribly and was still trying to make up for the time lost. He watched as Ed playfully crawled after the boy, tackling him gently and tickling him as Yuery squealed happily before managing to 'escape' and run toward Roy yelling "Yeye Help!". Roy set aside the paperwork as the baby reached him to scoop the boy up high above his head. Yuery giggled again before Ed stepped up and 'snatched' him from Roy. This lead to a lively chase around the living room as Ed clutched the laughing child to his chest and ran around the room, occasionally jumping over the back of chairs and the couch with Roy right behind him roaring loudly to give him the baby.

Eventually they both tired and Ed allowed Roy to catch him, both falling to the floor and laughing along with the baby, who wanted them to keep playing but was denied. Ed then snapped his fingers and said loudly "Teacher! That's it, we could have Teacher come and stay with Al while we're out of the country."

"Wonderful idea Ed." Roy said with a smile. The best part of the idea was that he wasn't going to be here for her to kill when she learned that Ed not only kept the watch but took the promotion. In fact he suggested to Ed to write her a letter telling her this information so that she would have a chance to calm down before they returned. Ed nodded in agreement before excusing himself to put Yuery to bed.

With nothing else to distract him, Roy returned to his paperwork with a sigh. He had to drag Ed into work this week to sign some forms and pick up his new uniform and dress uniform since they were required to wear it for Ling's coronation as representatives of their country. He would ask Gracia if she would mind spending some time at his place with Al and Yu. He needed to cut Ed off before he became paranoid and antisocial. Roy had a hard time with knowing the right balance himself some days.


	18. Returning to Routine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Saturday used to be Roy's favorite day of the week because he allowed himself the luxury of sleeping in before spending the day with his own research or reading novels. He would go out Friday nights on 'Dates' and Sundays were for preparing what paperwork he intended to sneak back into the office, but Saturdays were his.
> 
> He used to wait until his body refused to hold his bladder anymore before getting out of bed, sometime around ten. Now he was up before the sun, wrestling a tiny person into a dry diaper before carrying him downstairs and cooking breakfast. Saturday was still Roy's favorite day of the week. Possibly more than when it was his 'lazy' day, because now it was the day he got to spend the entire thing with his boys

Returning to Routine

Mustang-Elric Household

7:00 am

Saturday used to be Roy's favorite day of the week because he allowed himself the luxury of sleeping in before spending the day with his own research or reading novels. He would go out Friday nights on 'Dates' and Sundays were for preparing what paperwork he intended to sneak back into the office, but Saturdays were his.

He used to wait until his body refused to hold his bladder anymore before getting out of bed, sometime around ten. Now he was up before the sun, wrestling a tiny person into a dry diaper before carrying him downstairs and cooking breakfast. Saturday was still Roy's favorite day of the week. Possibly more than when it was his 'lazy' day, because now it was the day he got to spend the entire thing with his boys.

Everyone who knew them, and his office staff, knew not to disturb Roy on Saturday. He turned off the ringer on the phone, and ignored the outside world in favor of his family. Right now he was happily stirring batter for pancakes, which happened to be Alphonse's favorite, while Yuery sat on the counter next him, adding flour whenever he stopped stirring and telling Roy about his week.

At this point most of what the boy said could be understood, though he would occasionally switch to babble if he was excited enough. Edward would be down soon, though Roy always told him to go back to sleep when he retrieved Yuery, Ed rarely stayed in bed more than half an hour after Yuery woke him.

It was part of the routine as much as taking the child on Saturday mornings, that as quiet as he tried to be Ed woke as soon as the mattress shifted. Before, when they still had the indulgence of ignorance, Roy would take the boy every morning while Ed slept through it for at least an hour. Now it was only on his day off and Ed was hyper aware.

The war was over, the creatures defeated, and they were relatively safe. Roy knew from his own history though that the nightmares, the war, it would never truly be over. Still, Roy decided it was time to start slowly getting Ed to loosen his grip on the fear. Nothing and no one would get to these children as long as Roy was watching. He swore it to himself. That included Ed's fear.

This boy shouldn't and couldn't be raised in a shadow of fear like this. Envy and the rest were dead now. The Wizards had no idea where the boy was. Their enemies, while they still had some, would not be able to get passed their security. It was time. Roy was going to talk to Ed about moving Yuery back to his crib. Baby steps.

8:00 am

Ed had helped get Al up and dressed before they went into the kitchen to give Dad his 'Yuery' time. Ed knew he was being overprotective. He knew that it had been necessary back when they were on the run and now it could easily become paranoid and pathological. He was doing his best to combat it. Honestly, he had been doing better until the nurse and maid had invaded the house.

He knew it wasn't an invasion if they were invited. It felt like an invasion. They didn't come on Saturdays or Sundays though so it was his time to relax. His Dad would give anything to keep Al and Yuery safe, so he wasn't worried about that. He was worried about another monster coming for them when their guard was down. He still wasn't sure how he felt about the women, especially the nurse.

She was helping Al recover though. In fact days she came in, Al always seemed to do better than he had been at the hospital. He was recovering faster than the doctors expected too, which was good. Ed was relieved. He didn't know why then he didn't trust the nurse. She was a nice friendly woman. The pets liked her. Al liked her. Yuery liked her. Ed WANTED to like her and that's why he didn't.

Before Al could ask what he was brooding about this time, Dad called from the kitchen to let them know not only was breakfast ready, it was growing cold. Al insisted on using the crutches the nurse had given him yesterday. Ed hovered beside him as they slowly made their way down the hallway. His shoulder and chest pulled uncomfortably where the still healing surgical wounds complained about his sudden movements. "Maybe I should sneak you some of the protein drink the nurse brings me. It certainly makes me feel better. I think she might be sneaking pain medication on me since I started refusing to take it." Al said casually.

"She's drugging you without your consent or knowledge?!" Ed screeched.

"It's hardly without my knowledge. I'm the one that told you Brother." AL said while rolling his eyes at his brother.

"Dad!" Ed said as they walked into the kitchen. "Al says his nurse is sneaking drugs into his food."

"What?!" Roy said, sounding nearly as angry as Ed, which meant that he was furious.

"It's not a big deal. I know she's doing it for my own good. She'd stop if I would agree to take the stupid pain killers. I'm not taking them though, because whatever she's giving isn't as strong as what the doctor ordered and it doesn't make me sleep all the time." Al said as he sat down and started piling food onto his plate.

"That is not the point Al. Most people wouldn't have noticed her adding anything from what you're saying. She could add anything! What if she decided to slip you poison." Ed said dramatically, already deciding on the best course of action. The woman would not be permitted alone with his brother.

"I'm going to call the hospital tomorrow and ask they send a different nurse." Roy said calmly. Al looked like he was going to protest, but the expressions on his father and brother's faces ended that idea. He nodded with a sigh.

"I knew she was trouble. Remember I said I had a bad feeling about her." Ed said with a frown. Roy nodded, he too had not really liked her but she had passed all the background checks so he'd assumed it was the battle shock talking.

"Al. Play car'?" Yuery said completely unaware of the seriousness of the conversation but wanting his uncle's attention.

"After you eat Yu. Drink your milk." Al said with a smile, he was always happy to play with the boy, though there were only so many games they could play together right now while he was healing. Yu made a face at his plate having recently decided he did not like eggs. Ed ruffled his hair but pointed silently at the eggs. "You could lead by example Brother." Al said innocently as he pointed at the glass in front of his brother.

"You could shut the hell up." Ed replied as he pushed the glass of milk away as if it offended him by its mere existence- which it had. "I'm not drinking it, that's final. Stop placing it in front of me."

"When Yu sees you reject part of your meal, he thinks it's okay to reject part of his." Al said as he casually took a sip of his own milk and Roy elected to stay out of the argument, instead feeding Yu the eggs so they would end up in the boy instead of on him.

"Yu wouldn't see me rejecting milk if you didn't give me milk." Ed said stubbornly.

"Drink you milk Yu." Al said again to the boy who was now ignoring his dad and uncle in favor of his grandfather.

"He'll get to it. Stop telling him what to do." Ed said, enraged at his brother's antics for the first time since getting Al back. "He's my kid, I'll get him to drink the damn milk when I'm ready to."

"That makes no sense at all." Al said calmly.

"You make no sense!" Ed said, dissolving into childish antics reminiscent of their younger years. Before Al could respond further Ed turned to his son and said "Here Yuery, drink it just like this." Before grabbing his glass and drinking the foul liquid in three huge gulps.

Yuery blinked up at his father before drinking the last of his own milk. Ed's triumphant grin faded as he realized what had just happened. Al had goaded him into drinking milk! His adorable, sweet, perfect baby brother had clearly joined the forces of evil, corruption and dairy farmers. What had the world come to? Apparently no one at the table shared his horror. Not even his son who had finished his eggs at this point and left with Al to play cards. Dad was calmly clearing the table as if one of his sons hadn't just betrayed the other.

Roy suggested perhaps Ed should go take a nap, he seemed a bit overwrought with speeches of betrayal and milk conspiracies. Ed eventually agreed, more to get a few minutes to himself than anything else. Aside from bathing Ed hadn't really been alone with his thoughts since he woke up after the mine incident. He'd been surrounded constantly and it was starting to wear on him if he was honest with himself.

Roy, meanwhile, joined Al and Yuery in the living room as they played a card game that seemed to be of the one year old's invention with no real rules. Al would set a card on the pile, and then Yuery would take a card either from the pile or Al's hand or sometimes throw all of his cards down and smile. Al was mimicking whatever the baby did clearly not understanding the rules any better than Roy did but being a good sport for his nephew. "I think it's a highbred of Old Maid, Go Fish, and Poker but it's hard to say for sure. The important rule to remember because it seems to be the only rule, is that Yuery wins when he gets all the cards." Al said as he once again picked up a single card from the pile and Yuery snatched it and two others from his hand.

"What happens if you get all the cards?" Roy asked curiously. Amused at the game, even if it made no sense.

"I don't know. We've played three times already and it's never happened. I probably lose though. I assume." Al said with a chuckle. "This is the Yuery wins game after all. I'm thinking of teaching him to play a real game but I don't know that he's old enough yet."

"Probably not. Don't worry there's plenty of time for him to learn." Roy said with a smile, enjoying the banter between the two children.

12:00

Ed hadn't meant to actually fall asleep when he had gone to take a nap, but he woke with a start when the smell of melting cheese snuck into his room. Judging by the exact scent Dad was making grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. As much as Ed hated milk, he loved cheese. It was his go to argument whenever a professional argued with him over his milk consumption. Dad knew that he loved cheese, and had taken to using it to sneak in Ed's daily dairy requirements.

Ed knew what Dad was doing so it didn't count as being tricked. He knew this was the same argument that Al had used to defend his nurse, but that was different. Dad was their father, he had their best interest at heart and Ed trusted him. That made it different. Deciding that he was done with that line of thinking, Ed got up and made his way to the kitchen where Dad and Yu were eating happily.

There was a large platter of grilled sandwiches waiting for Ed to take some in the center of the table and the missing serving tray let him know Al was eating in his room before his nap. Ed silently sat next to Yuery, across from Roy and pulled a sandwich from the pile onto his plate before grabbing a second and taking a large bite. "So I was thinking of taking Yu to the park this afternoon. He hasn't been since we moved to Central, which really is the same as saying he's never been because he was too little to play the last time. Do you think Ms. Gracia and Elicia would like to go? How about you or Al?"

"I think that's a wonderful idea, and we should all go. It's warm enough. I will call Gracia. I'm not sure she's up to the walk." Roy said in return. Gracia had originally said she was moving back West, and had left for a while, but after Promised Day she had returned home at least for now. The baby had been born at the beginning of April, on Promised Day about three hours after the Event.

Roy called Gracia, who at first was panicked at him calling on a Saturday, before he explained their plan. She agreed to come along for the walk. Soon enough they had bundled Al and Yuery up and were on the way to a near by park. Roy pushing Al in his wheelchair, and Ed pushing Yuery's stroller. Gracia and Elicia caught up with them just outside of the park gates, Elicia was pushing the carriage containing her little sister with her mom guiding them along with a hand on the handle.

They made their way over to the playground, and Ed let Yuery out for him to toddle happily after Elicia. Ed stood watching as the children climbed on the playground. Roy sat on the bench next to Gracia with Al's chair next to them. They watched the children play, and Ed join them a few minutes later when he decided his dignity could take the hit in favor of chasing after the two happily squealing children. Al watched longingly, wishing he could join in the fun.

"You'll be back on your feet in no time, being run into the ground by the kids." Roy assured his younger son. Al nodded sadly before turning away from the sight in favor of smiling at Gracia.

"You can feel hold her Al, if you'd like." Gracia said as she gently lifted the baby from the carriage and handed her to him.

"Winry's coming up tomorrow to stay until it's time for Dad and Ed to leave for Xing. Hopefully you'll get to meet her!" Al said to baby Ana.

"She'll meet Winry, Winry better be ready to have a new little sister." Gracia said with a smile. She was happy enough despite wishing sometimes that her husband was still here to spoil their daughters. That was a large part of why she had returned to the city. Roy and the boys were a big part of Elicia's life and Gracia's. She didn't want to take the girls away from their godfather.

Ed came over then, and flopped onto the bench next to Roy before stating drily. "I'm out, it's your turn Dad, I wanna hold the baby."

Roy sighed dramatically, but rushed off to chase after the children letting those on the bench know he was just as happy to play with the children as the younger man. The baby was passed over to Ed, who resisted the urge to nag about the way they held her as she was being transferred, and moved onto the subject of the trip to Xing.

Al wished he could go, but much like chasing the children he wasn't strong enough yet. Gracia and the girls were going to stay with him, and Izumi was coming up for a visit as well. Al was happy enough about the company even before Ed whined that he wished he could stay and spend time with the girls. All three of them knew Ed was just saying that for his brother's sake and that he was looking forward to seeing Ling and Ping again.

The girls would be here when he got back, but Ping and Ling and Lan Fan and Mei were all they way across the desert and realistically it was unlikely that these visits would happen very often. Al squirmed uncomfortably in his chair as a stray thought hit him. He needed to talk to his brother later. Privately. About some rumors he'd heard out east while they were all separated.

5:00

Al fell asleep shortly after they had gotten home, as had Yuery. Roy and Ed got them into bed, and Roy had gone to read for awhile while Ed elected to nap with his son. He hated to admit it, and still hadn't admitted it, but the surgeries and injuries had taken a lot out of him. Roy knew this and decided that pointing out that the body needs sleep to heal would likely result in a screaming match and possibly broken items. Ed would also have stubbornly stayed awake. His son had matured a lot since becoming a parent, but he was still a stubborn sixteen year boy at the end of the day.

He considered the matter of dinner, then decided they would be having take out tonight because he couldn't be bothered cooking. He left the boys a note telling them he went to pick up dinner, and slipped out silently. He headed to their favorite Xingese restaurant to pick up enough food to feed a small army… or three Elrics.

Roy was pleasantly surprised to run into Riza Hawkeye on the way into the restaurant. She apparently had come up with the same dinner plan. Roy was quick to invite her to join him and the boys for the evening. Once he extended the invitation to Black Hayate she accepted, though he felt she should have known the dog was invited by default.

A few minutes later they reached his house, both burdened down by the heavy bags they carried. Roy kicked off his shoes and carried the bags into the kitchen as Riza followed suit. He dropped his keys on the counter nest to the hook on the wall for that purpose and began pulling plates and cutlery from the cupboards and drawers. "Have a seat, the smell of food will draw the boys in momentarily. I highly suggest you prepare your plate before they arrive or you'll be stuck with scraps I'm afraid."

"Surely they aren't that bad." Riza replied as Roy started piling food onto his plate and gesturing for her to do the same. Already they could hear the boys moving around in their rooms, having been summoned by the smell of food.

"I wouldn't lie about food Hawkeye. The boys take it far to seriously. " Roy said as he prepared a plate for Yuery to allow it time to cool before the boys joined them. Riza rolled her eyes, though she didn't completely doubt him she did think he was exaggerating. She remembered how much Roy himself could eat, both now and as a teenager. She assumed it was something to do with the energy they used when making arrays but had never bothered to ask.

Alchemists in general had big appetites as did teenagers, but she doubted the amount of food they had carried home. She suspected that Roy had overbought, and they would be eating leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Before she could further voice her doubts Al came in on his crutches, followed by Ed carrying Yuery.

"Hey, Hawkeye. I didn't know you'd be here." Ed said happily. He set Yuery in the highchair and began piling large amounts of noodles and beef slices onto two plates, one for himself and one for Al. Roy silently handed the baby his plate and gave Riza a meaningful look. She rolled her eyes in return. "Hey! No silent conversations at the table. It's a rule."

"It's a rule for you and Alphonse." Roy said, he had made up the rule after he gat tired of their silent arguments.

"It's a house rule, that means you have to follow it too." Ed said with a frown.

"Hmm. That reminds me, I believe I mentioned a grounding…"

"

"Nevermind. Have all the silent conversations you'd like." Ed said frantically. He did not want to be grounded with Winry arriving in the morning and the trip to Xing just around the corner.

"What did you do now Brother." Al said with a tired sigh as he refilled his and Ed's plates, as well as cutting up some more for Yuery.

"Fell down a mineshaft after an explosion and didn't check in for two weeks." Ed said flatly. It was the closest Ed had come to talking about what had happened up north, it still gave no details, but it still effectively ended the conversation. Roy didn't have it in him to tease the boy. He did want to know what exactly happened at some point because he knew Winry had demanded to know about some scar.


	19. Planning for the Future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Well. First of all, I'm glad to see you all again. Havoc you're walking, that's awesome! And Breda, Fuery, I haven't seen you in so long guys. Well… umm… Well I guess by now you all know that I decided to stay in the military. Crazy I know! I've only been saying I can't wait to quit since I met you and yet here I am, stealing another of Dad's records." Ed said as he smiled at Roy and everyone laughed. "I also wanted to let you all know, you guys have all been like family to me and Al. And Yuery of course. We love you idiots. I guess that's it...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Due to technical issues on the other site I post, I am uploading tomorrow's chapter today. Tomorrow the final chapter will appear.

Planning for the Future

Central City

Edward realized a few things while he was out of his own. First of all, he needed to officially file a will to keep his son safe in the event something happened to him. Secondly, his Dad was lonely. He said he wasn't, but he was, so it was time to jump on the "Get Roy to marry Riza" bandwagon, only subtly. Third, Ed wanted to stay with Winry forever. He wasn't sure what that meant exactly, accept the idea of him ever dating anyone else seemed foolish and the idea of her dating anyone else made his stomach hurt in a way he recognized as jealousy. Finally, he realized he belonged in the military. To be fair this last one didn't come to him while he was on the road, but after while he was in the hospital. He had been in the military for about a fourth of his life already. He needed the resources they provided. He could support his father's bid for the top easier from inside the ranks.

There was also the matter of the aftermath of Promised Day. The country was afraid of what had happened. Should he stay and support Grumman and Mustang and the Armstrongs it would go a long way to improving public opinion. As had been pointed out to him more than once, he was considered a national hero. Now was the time to use it.

The only problem was they were forcing a promotion on him. He wasn't sure how he felt about that, though his Dad in an attempt to smooth his feelings, pointed out Ed would be breaking yet another one of his records. Roy had broken the record by nearly a decade by being named Colonel at twenty-six. Ed was breaking Roy's record by a decade, at sixteen.

Though this had amused Ed greatly, the fact remained that he was being asked to lead a team, not on a mission, but permanently. He was certain this was going to end terribly, but at least he would be home for dinner most nights. Yuery would be given the stable childhood Ed desired to give him, and if things worked out with Winry that would be even better.

With this short and vague list in mind, he had accepted the promotion instead of turning in his watch, with Winry's support. He was given a few weeks medical leave, and he did not officially start his new job until roughly two weeks after they should return from Xing as long as everything remained on schedule, which was unlikely simply because it was his life and nothing ever seemed to stay on track.

Ed was thinking of all of this while he went to the train station to meet Winry. He stopped along the way when he was looking in shop windows because the ring caught his eye, now it was burning a hole in his pocket. Just because he bought didn't mean he had to do anything with it right now. Even if he were to ask her, it's not like they would get married right away, so he didn't even need to ask her right now. He wasn't going to ask her. They were just going to have a nice normal visit and then a nice normal vacation to watch his best friend become the emperor of Xing, and then he could consider asking her.

Ed had told himself that it was for the best that he simply forget about the whole thing for now, he would just scare Winry off if he brought it up now and besides they had only ever gone on one kind of date that had ended early thanks to some problem he had to help with. At least she wasn't going to be shocked that he tended to have to disappear with next to no notice. He wasn't making himself feel any better with this line of thinking, so instead he turned his attention to his scheming to get Dad and Riza to admit they wanted to be together. It would be a bit upsetting if his dad was still lonely once the boys were grown and moved on.

He had intended to be quiet about his thoughts. At the very least he had intended to not make a scene at the train station, but then he saw Winry getting off the train and the next thing he knew he was screaming at her about Equivalent Exchange. Luckily she seemed to understand his line of thought, but she rambled for a bit longer before accepting. Ed then shoved the ring box at her and turned bright red.

Winry took the ring, and put it on beaming brightly. Once that had gone much better than he planned, Ed led the way back to the car where he had a driver waiting. He still didn't know if they were going to tell anyone about the engagement right now, though Winry answered that question easily enough once they got back to the house.

As soon as she had kicked her boots off she rushed to the living room where Al, Roy, and Yuery were waiting. Ed following behind her had just entered the room as she excitedly hugged the baby and announced she was going to be his new mom.

Roy caught on faster than Al, congratulating the couple before suggesting they go out for dinner to celebrate. None of the Mustangs had been out to dinner just to do so since long before the trouble started months ago. Roy had been to dinner as a cover several times, but had never actually had the chance to take his boys out, but with things settled and the boys healthy he was excited to show off his new family.

Roy left the room to make the arrangements and give the children a chance to catch up. Al, who had been trying to catch his brother alone without their dad all morning but failing, decided Winry already knew about what he wanted to talk about so it was safe enough to bring up. Even if it was bound to ruin the festive mood. "Speaking of new family members, Ed we need to talk about something that I should have told you months ago." Al said. Both Winry and Ed looked confused but sat down and motioned for him to continue. "Well… when we all ended up separated last winter Winry and I ended up in Liore for a few days."

Winry immediately knew where Al was going with this and paled greatly. She had been involved in spreading the rumor after all. She knew that Ed wouldn't mind once he knew the whole story, but the problem was she had never gotten around to telling him the story at all and now Al was going to. Only Al didn't know the rumor was fake, because she didn't think he'd heard it at all. " Al. I know you think you know something important but you don't know all the facts." Winry said as she attempted to stop him before he upset his brother.

"Winry, I don't want to upset you but I already confirmed you know about this and knew about it since last winter. Brother has a right to know as well." Al said stubbornly. Winry was shaking her head, but Al carried on as if he didn't see her." We ran into Rose while we were out there Ed. She has a baby, a boy."

"Oh, well good for her. I hope she is a good mom, she seemed like she would be. Mostly. After she realized her religion was crazy." Ed said in response, not really understanding why AL was looking so pensive.

"Rumor around Liore says that the baby's father is an alchemist." Al said, hoping his brother would get the hint, but Winry groaned and shook her head. For all his intelligence, Ed could be blissfully ignorant at times.

"Okay? That kinda cool I guess-" Ed said, and then remembered something Dad had mentioned last winter over the phone about Al running into HIM. "Wait, you aren't going to tell me we have a little brother younger than my kid are you? Because I'm not sure I can handle that kind of thing right now…maybe later, if it's our new Dad's but not HIM."

"No. Actually, We don't have a new brother. Yuery does." Al said with a frown.

"Oh okay…WAIT WHAT?!" Ed said staring at his brother stupidly. Why on earth would Yuery have a new brother? What was going on.

"Ed. We need to talk."Winry said seriously. Ed felt his stomach sink. Engaged less than an hour and it was going to go like this. Over something he didn't even know how to process properly. He nodded numbly, but followed her out of the living room into his study. Once the door was closed, Winry sat down, clasping her hands nervously. "I can explain the whole thing."

"Okay, look I don't know what's happening here, but I can assure you Winry, I absolutely did not sleep with Rose! I promise." Ed began quickly.

"I know Ed. She told me what was going on. I meant to talk to you about all this before now but with everything that's been going on it slipped my mind." Winry said, and Ed finally sat on the other side of his desk. "When the Central soldiers came it wasn't good for anyone in Liore. Rose was seen as a kind of resistance leader because she refused to hand over the Ishbalan children that had fallen into her care, so she had been taken into custody as well."

Winry paused here to see if Ed was catching on or if she was going to have to spell it out for him. He was still looking confused though he seemed to be growing angry as well. She remembered than that Al said he and Ed had stopped the bad things that had been happening in town, so that would explain his anger. She plowed ahead when she realized he wasn't connecting the dots. "The day I met Rose, she introduced me to her children, including her baby. Then she confessed that she had done what she assumed was a terrible thing. You see, in Liore they hate the military with one exception. You. Half the town had seen you eating dinner with her the night before you left, and the other half had heard about it. When she was released from custody after General Grumman heard about the bad things going on out there she didn't see any choice but to lie Ed. The other two girls who had been taken like she had were run out of town for it. So she lied and told everyone he is your baby so they wouldn't hate her."

Ed sat frozen as he processed everything he had just heard. This was terrible. Not only that they had done terrible things to Rose and these other girls, but then for their own people to blame them like that! Of course it made perfect sense to him that she lied about it. It wasn't really different than the stuff on Yuery's paperwork really. Still, apparently Al believed the rumor. Which didn't completely surprise Ed considering Al's stubborn refusal to believe Ed over Yuery.

The whole thing was too big for him to think about right now, so he focused on breaking it down into three parts. Convince Al that it was just a rumor. Get the names of the soldiers involved in this and make sure they were punished. Talk to Rose and try to convince her that moving and dropping this cover story was a good idea.

The first thing to cover would be his brother who clearly had been sitting on this for long enough to convince himself it was true. Ed hugged Winry and told her he was going to need her to back him up in the argument, she nodded as they walked back to the living room. Before either Winry or Al could say anything Ed started screaming. "What the hell Al?!Do you just always believe the worst of me or what? You know damn well I can't be the father of Rose's kid, you were with me the whole trip!"

"Well you did go to dinner with her, and you were gone an awfully long time." Al defended, not really believing Ed which was becoming a pattern unfortunately.

"Al be reasonable. I talked to Rose directly, Ed isn't the father. You didn't even know if the baby was just a rumor until l you asked me. I conformed the baby was real but you never mentioned the Ed part of the rumor. Do the math." Winry said shaking her head.

Ed rolled his eyes and huffed in frustration even as Al gave Winry a pitying look. "Oh don't bother to invite him to do the math on it Winry. He can't apparently calculating gestation times is beyond him or he wouldn't still think I'm lying about Yuery. He's determined to think the worst of me no matter what. Excuse me, I need to go talk to Dad about some soldiers who need to be imprisoned."

Ed left the room, ignoring the argument between Winry and Al that was still going on behind him as he went in search of his Dad. Ed found him in his own study, having just hung up after making the arrangements for the car and reservations at a nearby nicer restaurant. "Ah, Edward, there you are. I was just about to come find you and let you know I took the liberty of inviting the Hughes and the old team to dinner. I assumed you would want to make one announcement instead of several." Roy said with a bright smile.

"Oh, thank you. That's a wonderful idea. What time?" Ed asked momentarily sidelined with the good news that already felt like it was a lifetime ago thanks to the latest crisis making its way to the front of his mind.

"I told everyone to meet us at six. I also warned the restaurant that we would have several children with us to ensure that wouldn't be a problem, so don't worry about anyone complaining about Yuery like that one in Timberton you complained about." Roy said with a smile.

"Timberton is a backwater little hole in the wall. I hardly think they have room to complain about serving anyone paying in actual cash." Ed groused. "Anyway, I just found out some things that I need to talk to you about right away. Both as Dad and as General Mustang."

"That doesn't sound pleasant." Roy said with a sigh as he gestured for Ed to close the door and sit down.

"First, the Dad request. Please. Never tell Al what I said to get grounded. He'll go in search of this mystery baby the doesn't exist. I swear he is the worst." Ed said with a huff.

"That's fine. I wasn't going to keep the grounding anyway, I was just teasing you. What brought this up, is he bothering you about Yuery again?"

"If only. No. Here's where General Mustang comes in. When the Central Soldiers took Liore, they kidnapped at least three women, who were then abused by them. I want them tracked down and punished for their crimes. What they did to those people was war crimes Dad, even if it wasn't an official war."

Roy didn't need Ed to explain further as far as what happened to these poor women. Unfortunately he knew such things had happened in Ishbal as well. Never under his command as far as he had ever heard, but a couple of others that he crossed paths with over there… Gran he knew turned a blind eye to whatever his men did, as well as several non-alchemists. "I will have investigations on it as soon as possible. It would help if one of the women could give us any names, but we can find it eventually." Roy said frowning.

"I'll talk to Rose directly in the morning. Before you hear it from Al, and I'm getting this from Winry who actually talked to Rose. This whole thing just doesn't make any sense, but then it's not even the first time that kind of thing happened to me but LA can be a real jerk at times, I love my brother. I'd die for him, I'd give an arm for him – literally- and he'd do the same for me but he won't believe me when I tell him the truth and its pissing me off and-"

"Ed, you're rambling."

"Apparently, Rose told everybody I'm her son's father because she didn't want to be run out of town."

"I see"

"Don't you be like that with me too!" Ed said throwing his hands in the air. "I met this girl once, had one ONE conversation with her without Al beside me, and that was in a crowded dining room!"

Roy didn't get a chance to respond before Winry slipped into the room, looking as annoyed as Ed. "Well your brother is being a stubborn mule. If he's not going to listen to me explaining things using science then there's no hope!"

"What's this then?" Roy asked in confusion.

"I invited Al to do the math on that baby. And Yuery while he was at it. He needs a crash course in how pregnancy works because he thinks BOTH are possible!" Winry said angrily.

"I've TOLD him before, Yuery would have had to have been early for it to fit," Ed said with a sigh.

"Yeah and William would have had to have been late." Winry said with a sigh. "He was only three days old when I met him though. Al never met him, he just heard rumors."

"Well, I need to make some more calls, and so do you Edward. Let's get this started at least." Roy said as he felt a headache coming on.

6:00 pm

Once the phone calls were made the subject had been dropped and the family spent the resto f the day together without a fight between them. Luckily Al was just as willing to drop the subject as they were so as not to ruin Winry's celebration. He was also afraid the conversation was going dangerously close to violating the deal he had made with Ed last year, and he was really hoping to be able to talk Ed and Dad into getting another cat.

They all dressed nicely, the boys in suits and Winry in a red dress the same shade as Ed's usual coat, and were taken to the restaurant. They arrived first, before any of the guests. Gracia, Elicia, and Ana arrived next in the other car Roy had arranged. The others all arrived together shortly after, Havoc walking on his own with a cane.

Roy lead the way inside, and announced their party name as Elric-Mustang, and they were lead to a private room. Roy didn't want them interrupted by reporters or have Ed and Winry end up in the papers before they had a chance to tell everyone they wanted to know on their own. Once everyone was settled around the table and the waitress had taken their orders, Roy cleared his throat as he stood up.

"First of all, I wanted to thank you all for coming. I am glad to see you all here together again. It has been a very trying few months, and though we have lost a lot along the way, we have gained as well. Today therefore is not a day for dwelling in the past but rather celebrating for the future. With that in mind, I believe my son had something to say. Edward?"

Ed glared, mostly because he was embarrassed, but stood to join Roy at the head of the table. "Well. First of all, I'm glad to see you all again. Havoc you're walking, that's awesome! And Breda, Fuery, I haven't seen you in so long guys. Well… umm… Well I guess by now you all know that I decided to stay in the military. Crazy I know! I've only been saying I can't wait to quit since I met you and yet here I am, stealing another of Dad's records." Ed said as he smiled at Roy and everyone laughed. "I also wanted to let you all know, you guys have all been like family to me and Al. And Yuery of course. We love you idiots. I guess that's it… Oh except, since you guys are family or whatever you better be watching your mailboxes for the wedding invitations. I just asked Winry this morning so we haven't set anything yet, but you know I like to do things early."

The room erupted in congratulations and laughter as the whole group celebrated for their youngest member. It was a happy day for them all to see the boys whole and healthy, something most of them had not seen yet, even with being involved in the final fight. Added to that was they joy they all felt for Edward, they'd all met Winry before, and could see how much the two of them loved each other. Sure they were young to be considering marriage, but as Ed had just pointed out, he tended to do things early.

"Oh, and since isn't here to do it." Gracia said with a laugh, as Roy stiffened already knowing what she was about to say. "Roy, don't you think it's time you gave it up and married Riza? We all know you love each other."

Roy didn't bother to answer, he simply groaned into his hand as the rest of the table laughed as well. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Riza standing beside him , he sighed wordlessly as she pulled a gun from nowhere and everyone apologized. He internally laughed at this. When he finally asked, it would be on his own terms, not his team or his best friend or her grandfather…and when had it gone from 'if' to 'when'?


	20. The End is the Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He took care of us, even when he didn't have to. He gets up in the middle of the night when we have nightmares. He makes our favorite meals, which he remembers on his own. Even mine, the first day out of the hospital he made my favorite meal because he remembered I mentioned it back when I was eleven. He cares about us, even when it would be easier not to. He frets about Brother's health. He loves Yuery. He gives out hugs, usually before we have to ask. He set aside his own plans to take care of us. He's been our Dad a long time, and now we both see that's what he was doing

The End is the Beginning

Spinner's End

England

12:00 am

He traveled alone through the broken down and dirty street that made up Spinner's End. He was on a self appointed mission, one that he hoped hadn't come too late. The elderly man was dressed oddly, had anyone bothered to look, in a dark blue set of robes with hair and beard nearly to his waist. Luckily for the house's single occupant, his neighbors had never bothered to care what went on outside their own walls and misery. A fact that had left a mark in his miserable upbringing, and gratitude now when he opened the door.

"You have no business here." Said the sallow man in a thin dirty undershirt and black slacks, his lank black hair hanging in his face down over his shoulders.

"You are drunk Severus." The elderly man responded pushing into the house without invitation.

"How observant of you Albus." Severus Snape said before closing the door with a shrug. He wandered passed the piles of trash and dirty dishes to his chair by the cold fireplace, collapsing back into place before picking up a bottle of amber liquor to take a healthy swig.

"You're better than this. Why have you allowed yourself to decend into such squalor?" Albus Dumbledore asked, even as he flicked his wand to put the room right. Dishes flew into the kitchen and began washing themselves in the sink as a broom swept the floor and trash flowed into bags before tying themselves closed. A second flick threw dust off the second chair before Albus sat without invitation. "You've been ignoring my letters."

"Why would I wish to hear from you?" Snape growled. "I came to you begging for help, I told you their plans. Their secrets at great personal risk. I turned spy for you, AND YOU LET HER DIE! You let her die you let her child die. You promised you'd keep them safe."

"They were betrayed by a friend. I had no way of knowing." Dumbledore said simply. "The child lives."

"Lies!"

"I would not lie to you. Not about this. The child lived, saved by the alchemist I brought in to protect them."

"Then why is she dead?"

"I assume he arrived too late. I hadn't had a chance to take him to meet the Potters yet, though he was near by so he must have heard the fight once the primary charms were disrupted. The point is the child lives. Would you help keep him that way."

"Help protect James Potter's spawn, are you mad?"

"Help protect Lily Evans baby. He has her eyes you know. Exactly like hers."

"I'll consider it." Snape said after a time, staring into the empty fireplace as if searching for answers. Dumbledore took his leave then, mission complete. Snape would come to the school, if for no other reason then to learn more about what had gone wrong in the plan.

After Dumbledore left, Snape stood slowly, pulling his wand out for the first time in over a year he swept it across the room, finishing the job Dumbledore had started. If it was true. If Lily's child had lived. He had to know more. He had failed to save her, the only person he had ever loved, but he wouldn't fail her baby. It's what she would have wanted.

Central City

6:00am

It was a sad sadistic person who had thought of starting travel plans this early in the morning as far as Edward was concerned. Their train was to leave at half passed six, therefore, they had to be at the station at a quarter to six, which meant Ed had been up since four. Four in the freaking morning, rushing around quietly so as not to wake his brother of the Curtis' who had arrived just last night, while got himself and his son ready.

Winry and his Dad had gotten up at the same time, and they had all been out front on time when Havoc pulled up with an equally tired Hawkeye. This was just the first leg of the journey and Ed already wanted to go home. He had been looking forward to seeing his friend again, but that was before he had to get up before the sun and travel across the continent. He was now rethinking their entire friendship.

It didn't help matters that he had been informed last night that they would be expected to wear their uniforms for the first leg of the journey as well as the last. Ed didn't see the point of it but complied, only to need his dad's help with all the various pins and buttons. He had felt like a toddler standing there calmly while his dad put together his clothes.

They were now on a southbound train, luckily in a private car, as they made their way to the coast to take the long way to Xing. Ed was already worried about leaving his brother behind. He knew Al would be fine with Teacher taking care of him, Granny was supposed to come up tomorrow as well. Ed still worried leaving his little brother alone though.

They had gotten rid of the old nurse, and a new one was to arrive today which didn't help Ed's anxiety. He hadn't gotten a chance to meet this stranger who would be taking care of his little brother. Perhaps it wasn't too late to just cancel the trip he wondered but then he saw his dad's expression and the train started to move. With a sigh he resigned himself to spending the next two months abroad.

Hogwarts

Headmaster's Office

9:00 am

Minerva McGonagall tried to be respectful at all times, but at this point she felt it was appropriate to be slightly rude as she entered the office without an appointment. Dumbledore had been avoiding answering her questions, questions he knew she wouldn't ask somewhere where they could be overheard, so she was going to corner him to get the information if that's what it took.

Albus had promised to send people to check on the Potters child, but so far he had said nothing further. Surely by now he had at least gotten some sort of report. So what was he hiding that he couldn't let her know? He had said before he had something he wanted her to do over the summer, so she wasn't really overreaching asking for an update.

Dumbledore called for to come in, and gave her a tired smile when she entered. "Ah yes, I expected you to come sooner or later. I rather expected you to come earlier. I assume this is about the boy?"

"Yes, of course it is! You said you were sending someone to look in on him and that perhaps you would need my help over the summer as well."

"Yes indeed. I apologize, I have found myself rather preoccupied the last few weeks. I have received word from my agents that the boy appears very healthy and well cared for. From what I've been told, he has been adopted into a very fine family who love him a great deal." Dumbledore said. He shuffled some papers around before continuing. "It appears two of the members of the family will be leaving soon and plan to travel for a few weeks. From what I gater, the boy will be traveling with them so we may not need you over the summer after all. However, you you would accept a substitute for your class in the fall, I'm sure we can spare you for a couple of weeks to allow you time to confirm for yourself all is well."

"I see, how are we planning to do that? My talent?"

"Yes, as it turns out the child's adopted uncle is an avid cat lover. He is known for taking in strays on a frequent basis, though the father also seems to find them new homes after a few days so that would give you a chance to see the family up close and confirm what the others are reporting. I have one agent who has agreed to stay long term to keep an eye on the whole situation for us."

"The fall you say? And someone is watching over him now."

"Yes my dear. Rest assured I want the boy kept safe myself and understand your concern. I have another matter to discuss as well. You remember Severus Snape, I believe?" Dumbledore said already moving on in his mind.

"I- yes, I remember him. He was overall a good student, if quiet and a little lonely."

"I have managed to convince him to return to Hogwarts. He will be teaching Potions next year on a trial basis. I know you will be missing the beginning of the year, but I hoped upon your return you would take him under your wing, make him feel welcome as a teacher so that he might stay."

"Of course sir."

"Thank you. I know you always did your best to help him as a student."

Minerva left shortly after that, not really feeling any better about the Potter situation, but trusting that Albus knew what was happening. Now she could turn her attention to the needs of her students and fellow teachers, with the assurance that she would be allowed to check on the boy herself in a few weeks.

Elric-Mustang Household

1:00pm

His new nurse came to see Al today, and had given him the same special drink as the last one. This time, Al decided not to say anything about it because it didn't seem to be poison and he always felt stronger after drinking it. In fact the feeling no longer faded after a few hours but seemed to be growing stronger.

He knew he should talk to somebody about it all but it wasn't like there were a ton of people who could say they had sat beside Truth in the Gate for years. He was pretty sure he had been alone the whole time, though occasionally a stray thought would make him wonder.

He was stronger than he expected to be, stronger than the doctors said he would be, and in a way he was glad to see his Dad and brother go. Not just because he knew how much Ed wanted to see Ling again (even if Ed denied it loudly) and his Dad needed a break, but because he wanted to surprise them. He was sure if he used this month alone wisely, he would be walking by the time they got back, and wouldn't that be a wonderful surprise?

Al was pleased with his progress, and decided since there wasn't a rational explanation for his rapid recovery he would go to the usual fallback and blame the Gate. It was time Truth finally gave them something positive after all. Not that Truth was known for being generous.

Al shuddered and pushed away the memory of his Father's final moments. Watching him unravel right before Al while he assured Al it was going to be okay was something he was never going to stop having nightmares about. He refused to tell Ed about it. Ed would and could find some way to blame himself for Hohenheim's sacrifice It was just who his brother was.

Al decided not to dwell anymore on the subject that had taken over his dreams and made his way out to the kitchen where he could here Teacher and Granny talking. They both spotted him at they same time, judging by their shocked expressions. It was then he realized this was the first time he had used his cane instead of crutches or a wheelchair around anyone but the nurse. He gave them a bright smile and slowly made his way to the table.

"Hello Alphonse. I see you're improving." Teacher said with a smile.

"Yes, thank you. Hello to you both." Al said as he reached for the platter of cookies in the center of the table.

"I see your brother still takes better care of you than he does himself." Granny said with a sniff. "He will have to work on that now that he's a father and soon will be my granddaughter's husband."

"Nice try Granny. I was the first person they told though. No wait. Yuery was the first person they told, Dad and I just happened to be there."

"Oh so now you're calling him Dad as well? How has this man convinced you boys to trust him?" Izumi asked. Even after Promised Day she didn't like or trust Roy Mustang.

"He took care of us, even when he didn't have to. He gets up in the middle of the night when we have nightmares. He makes our favorite meals, which he remembers on his own. Even mine, the first day out of the hospital he made my favorite meal because he remembered I mentioned it back when I was eleven. He cares about us, even when it would be easier not to. He frets about Brother's health. He loves Yuery. He gives out hugs, usually before we have to ask. He set aside his own plans to take care of us. He's been our Dad a long time, and now we both see that's what he was doing." Al said. "I know you don't trust him or like him, but we do. So trust us. Please Teacher."

Izumi shakes her head, but drops the subject. Clearly she wasn't going to convince Al anymore than Ed that they shouldn't trust a military man so completely. Although, Ed was military himself much to her dismay. "What is this about staying in Central anyway? I assumed you would be headed back to Resembool as fast as you were able."

"We talked about it, and agreed, Ed is staying in the military. He even took the promotion. Winry is aware of it and she helped talk him into it. She's opening a automail clinic here in the city. We live everyone, but we wanted to stay near our Dad right now and help him like he helped us. He doesn't know that part though, in fact he had Ed's papers ready to get out if that was what Ed decided. Instead Ed insisted on staying. I wasn't there for that conversation but I know them both well enough to put the conversation together. Especially since I know Ed was thinking about access to the library as well. You know Ed and research." Both women nodded before they changed the subject that clearly was left unresolved.

Train bound for southern border

Ed and Yu had fallen asleep, which was normal for them, and Win had lasted another hour before she joined them, her head on Ed's shoulder. Riza and Roy were sitting on the opposite bench trying to be as quiet as possible to let the children sleep. Riza had brought some paperwork that had to be finished before they returned, but Roy had expected that.

They silently filled out forms and murmured occasional thank you as they passed papers back and forth. Roy was glad to see her again to be honest. They hadn't had a lot of time to catch up since the hospital, which frankly was not the best place to catch up with anyone.

Riza had been Roy's friend for most of their lives. He had been just fourteen when they had met as her father's student. He still remembered the quiet reserved girl who greeted him that first day. She wasn't shy, never had she been shy, but she watched everything. She had been curious about him, mostly because her father hadn't taken a student in years. Not since before her mother had passed away. Eventually she had asked why he had bothered the day before Roy arrived.

Her father had growled that her mother's father had insisted the boy was worth the time, and called it a favor to take him. She still remembered her father's anger all these years later when her father learned Roy had joined the military academy as soon as his training end. Her father had cursed Roy and her grandfather, and her mother, and her. He had gone wild with anger. She had never told Roy the full extent of her father's anger. He had a guilt complex almost as powerful as his sons.

It not the time to dwell on such things, but both found themselves dwelling on it nonetheless. At least the children were sleeping. Roy signed the final paper as Riza finished stacking it all neatly to be mailed when they reached the border before Roy leaned back for a nap. Riza sighed but allowed it, feeling that Roy deserved a break or two. He was still recovering.

As she watched him sleep, she thought for the first time in years that perhaps it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if they gave this a chance. She would consider while they were Xing. Once she knew what it was she was thinking then she would bring it up to him. Once, many years ago, before the military and her father's anger, and Ishbal she thought of what it would be like to be happily married to the boy who had become this man. She hadn't entertained the idea since Ishbal.

What a wonderful thing it would be though. To be Roy's wife, Ed and Al's mom. Probably more than she deserved. She shook her head at the thought. Roy and Ed weren't the only ones with a guilt complex. But the thing was. She had promised to stay under him to watch his back until they fixed what was wrong with this country. The had found the evil and cut it out. Now all that was left was healing, and that could be done just as easily by his side.

Roy of course had a say in the matter, and if no longer wanted her after all the blood she had shed, she would understand. She found herself hopeful though, and realized with a start that perhaps she had already made up her mind. She just had to figure out the details. She also needed to talk to Roy, who undoubtedly would want to talk to the boys, because if his boys didn't want her in their lives as their step mother then it didn't matter what she and Roy wanted, she wouldn't allow it to happen.

She finally drifted to sleep herself, her head resting on Roy's shoulder in a very similar manner as the couple across from them. She would have been pleased to know that Ed and Al had already been subtly scheming as they tried to push them together without being pushy because neither of them wanted to be Hughes

**Author's Note:**

> Despite the story title this is NOT the last book in this series. Just the last in this arc of the series. We still have a long way to go before the series is over.


End file.
